Disneyland's 60th Birthday: Rumors, Speculation and News

Kman101

Kman101

Well-Known Member
Very excited over the dark ride makeovers. Alice looked great in the videos I've watched (having ridden the previous version) and I'm looking forward to Toad's as well. I still cringe each and every time I walk by Pooh at WDW's Magic Kingdom. Sigh.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Endor Sightseer said:
I think it's perfect the way it is.
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Really? I ride through Mr. Toad's, and while I love it you can tell it's a 1980's take on a 1950's plywood flats dark ride.

I thought the same thing about Alice In Wonderland - it's perfect the way it is! Then I saw what they did with the projection mapping and digital effects in the latest version, and I was very impressed and felt it was time to leave the 20th century behind.

I also remember when they did the first round of digital projections in Alice about six or seven years ago, and what a big improvement that was over the original 1980's tech.

I can appreciate 20th century classics; like an Eames dining chair or a 1965 Chrysler or the original 1950's Disneyland font. But when it comes to amusement park rides, I think WDI does a very good job of adding new tech to old rides to freshen them up for new audiences.
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
As someone who used to operate the classic Fantasyland dark rides, I can't stress how much these upgrades are needed. Not only are things like the animatronics, set pieces, and even ride vehicles dated, but a lot of cleaning and general fixing up is beyond needed. I know keeping them in their classic forms is special and unique in a way, but for the sake of their conditions, they could use some help.
 
Suspirian

Suspirian

Well-Known Member
raven24 said:
Harold isn't a yeti, though.
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abominable snowman/yeti...different wording, same thing

also

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didnt expect the hollywood backlot signto be removed
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Nothsa said:
abominable snowman/yeti...different wording, same thing
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Also different continents and different native cultures, which really shouldn't be dismissed so swiftly lest we disrespect those peoples and their culture.

The title "Yeti" was bestowed upon the animatronic in Expedition Everest by WDI, after they took a Five Star luxury company-expensed trip to the Himalayas to research the plans for the attraction. Yeti is the name given to the creature in the native Tibetan language and cultures of the Himalayan Mountains, so in addition to racking up huge hotel bills and first class airfare, at least Joe Rohde and his Imagineers took that away with them.

Further north in Mongolia a similar creature has been known for centuries as the Alma. In Sweden the mountain creature was known a thousand years ago as the Bjarven. The native tribes in what is now Oregon and Washington and British Columbia called a similar creature "Sasquatch" in their native Salish language.

The term "Abominable Snowman" wasn't coined until 1921, by a British magazine writer in India who visited Tibet. The term was quickly adopted as the Anglicized phrasing of all the ancient native language titles (and easier to pronounce for middle class magazine readers back in England) for the similar creature on different continents.

When Harold was added to the Matterhorn in 1978, Imagineering script writers used that then 55 year old "Abominable Snowman" term to describe the animatronic that was actually based on ancient legends that are thousands of years old. Interestingly, there is no such ancient myth of a mountain man in the Alps, and thus no native word for him in the four languages and their native dialects spoken in Switzerland.

Calling him an "Abominable Snowman" is actually kind of offensive to the native cultures that included the creature and his specific names in their traditional mythology and ancient languages. That's why I take a tip from the CM's working the Matterhorn and just call him "Harold". :cool:

I'm sorry, what were we talking about again?
 
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George Lucas on a Bench

George Lucas on a Bench

Well-Known Member
raven24 said:
As someone who used to operate the classic Fantasyland dark rides, I can't stress how much these upgrades are needed. Not only are things like the animatronics, set pieces, and even ride vehicles dated, but a lot of cleaning and general fixing up is beyond needed. I know keeping them in their classic forms is special and unique in a way, but for the sake of their conditions, they could use some help.
Click to expand...

I'm afraid some higher-up at Disney is going to ride these things and decide to make drastic changes, removing their irreverence and spookhouse quality. I can just see it now. "Do we really want our babies crashing the car recklessly, breaking the law, going through a pub with a bartender spinning booze, colliding with a locomotive and then going to hell?" Even the modern version of Snow White has creepy encounters with the Witch, numerous skeletons of dead guys and a truly scary dark forest scene. I don't want to lose any of that.
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Endor Sightseer said:
I'm afraid some higher-up at Disney is going to ride these things and decide to make drastic changes, removing their irreverence and spookhouse quality. I can just see it now. "Do we really want our babies crashing the car recklessly, breaking the law, going through a pub with a bartender spinning booze, colliding with a locomotive and then going to hell?" Even the modern version of Snow White has creepy encounters with the Witch, numerous skeletons of dead guys and a truly scary dark forest scene. I don't want to lose any of that.
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Oh, for sure. I don't want any of that gone either. I HIGHLY doubt any of those elements will be completely taken out, especially the 'Hell' scene in Toad. They'd receive a lot of backlash if they did remove it, and Disney knows this.

I look at what Disney did with Alice, and not only am I impressed with the technology that was installed, but I'm happy that the ride is still the same, for the most part. The changes that were made weren't drastic (like removing the Chesire Cat at the end). I'm assuming it'll be the same for the others. Not a lot of drastic changes per se, but just technological additions and alterations.

I got to walk through all of the dark rides multiple times. When I walked through them and actually looked at everything (like the insanely creepy and weird old puppet that sits in the corner in the Stromboli/cage scene of Pinocchio), I was surprised to notice just how old-looking some of the animatronics are, as well as other elements of the rides.
 
mharrington

mharrington

Well-Known Member
I just noticed on MousePlanet that the Peter Pan ride's long rehab has been taken off the rehab list. It also is missing from the Disneyland website. What's going on?
 

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