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Disneyland's Tom Sawyer Island to close (will WDW's follow suit?)
- Thread starter KentB3
- Start date
M_DOGALPHA
New Member
Yea, I think that if you get rid of one of the oldest things in Disneyland, why not get rid of all of them (mockingly)? I know this is sarcasm, anf besides, i like the WDW tom sawyer Island. I like those caves that have the gems and lights in it. it is fun to hide around a corner and scream so i can scare the crap out of ppl LOL!I swear to god, if they get rid of my WDW Island, i will go straight to Disney headquarters and kick some a$$!! Why not tear down Port Orleans, it is the SAME EXACT thing as Tom sawyer, or how about the Grand Floridian? That is a hotel that kids dont appreciate (But I think that hotel rocks! Wat u gonna do about it though? nothing!!) Why not turn all of my WDW into a DisneyQuest?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!! I have only one way to sum this up to the Disney execs-- Yo Momma! LOLOLOL!!
CThaddeus
New Member
For what it's worth, this regular does.
Also, here's something I think warrants mentioning - when I was young, I was never required to read anything by Mark Twain (a shame, but true). I still loved going to the Island and having fun running through the caves, getting others wet on Pontoon Bridge, and playing in the Fort. I'd have to say, though, it was Tom Sawyer's Island that got me to read the works of Mark Twain as an adult. I figured if Disney could devote a whole attraction to two of his works (and a Steamship to his name) there must be something worthwhile about them. And I'm glad I did. I regret that this wonderful Island and the joy it has brought me could be lost. But I guess money is more important than possibly inspiring someone to find out more about a property that, surprisingly, Disney never actually used in a film. Was there even a novelization of the Pirates movie (longer than 25 pages)? Forget the classics, bring on the fads!
sanctumsolitude
Active Member
This wouldn't work in WDW, and as far as I know, there is nothing to indicate that they are thinking about doing this to WDW. This would be a Disneyland-only thing.
It works at Disneyland. The front of the island is facing pirates so it would be cohesive. The side that faces Frontierland is actually only visible from a small area of Frontierland. It is obscured by trees and hills from BTMRR. I imagine it wouldnt take much to make it work for the limited sightlines from Fontierland.
Making it work with critter country (Splash Mountain) is the more difficult part. I think this is going to be the only major problem for them.
It works at Disneyland. The front of the island is facing pirates so it would be cohesive. The side that faces Frontierland is actually only visible from a small area of Frontierland. It is obscured by trees and hills from BTMRR. I imagine it wouldnt take much to make it work for the limited sightlines from Fontierland.
Making it work with critter country (Splash Mountain) is the more difficult part. I think this is going to be the only major problem for them.
Right, the existing landscaping on the island facing Frontierland could obscure the Pirate stuff to help it fit in with the theme. On the other hand, you would want to make the island itself a wienie to the tourists, making it look like something that they really want to check out. So you'd want to have a lot of cool Pirate stuff on the island in plain view, at least on the New Orleans side.
The same goes with the riverboat ride. You would want guests riding the riverboat to see all the fun stuff on the island. Maybe Pirates could even "hijack" the riverboat as it passes by on occasion. Or they could install those water cannon things the kids could use to spray passengers on the riverboat. Anyway, the riverboat ride could become a lot more interesting with this rehab, even if it doesn't really make any sence.
Although this would be hard to fit in at WDW, I still think that the Tom Saywer Island there could use a makeover of some type, staying with the Frontier/Pioneer theme.
My question is how do you fit the themeing on the island to incorporate seeing paddlewheelers and canoes and a giant desert mountain?
Then again, if they were really good marketing people and creative types, they would figure out a way to make a hit movie out of the fort!
Then again, if they were really good marketing people and creative types, they would figure out a way to make a hit movie out of the fort!
Maybe in Pirates 3 we find that Capt Jack is on an island inside the belly of the Kracken and there are paddlewheelers, canoes and a giant desert mountain.....just a thought. :lol:
TP2000
Well-Known Member
They did the hijacking thing at Disneyland this summer, except with the Sailing Ship Columbia. During the trip pirates would take over the boat and try and get the passengers to be pirates too, and take a pirate oath. The pirate thing works on the Columbia, since it's a tall sailing ship from the 1790's, when pirates roamed the high seas. They wouldn't need to shoehorn this theme onto the Mark Twain, the riverboat, since they already have the Columbia to work with.
http://www.allearsnet.com/dlr/tp/dl/sscol.htm
They did a pirate hijacking thing on the Columbia back in the 1990's at Disneyland too, years before Pirates the movie ever existed. It's something they've been playing with for years at Disneyland.
wdwishes2005
New Member
I might see this at DL. At WDW, it won't fit the theming. but then again, MK has had the theme of not sticking to any theme lately.
Thats awesome!
I forgot about the Columbia. That will fit in perfectly with the pirate theme. There are plenty of things Disney could do to connect the ship with the new overhaul of the island, like adding new scenes around the island to be seen specifically from the Columbia. Man, there must be a lot of water traffic in that river throughout the day.
imagineer boy
Well-Known Member
This was just posted at IMDB:
Disneyland Island Safe for Tom Sawyer, Say Imagineers
Disney Imagineers, who are responsible for designing the attractions at the company's theme parks, have downplayed reports by an unofficial Disneyland website that the company is planning to turn Tom Sawyer's Island, one of the original Disneyland attractions, into a Pirates of the Caribbean Island in time for the release of next year's Pirates sequel. In an interview with the O-meon website ("for the grownup geek in all of us"), one Imagineer remarked that the project could not be completed on such short notice. Others said no one had seen any designs for such an attraction. Moreover, they noted, changing Tom Sawyer's Island would also mean changing the Americana theme surrounding it. Indeed, asked one Imagineer, "What are guests going to think of the Mark Twain [a stern-wheel riverboat] gliding around a tropical island?"
Disneyland Island Safe for Tom Sawyer, Say Imagineers
Disney Imagineers, who are responsible for designing the attractions at the company's theme parks, have downplayed reports by an unofficial Disneyland website that the company is planning to turn Tom Sawyer's Island, one of the original Disneyland attractions, into a Pirates of the Caribbean Island in time for the release of next year's Pirates sequel. In an interview with the O-meon website ("for the grownup geek in all of us"), one Imagineer remarked that the project could not be completed on such short notice. Others said no one had seen any designs for such an attraction. Moreover, they noted, changing Tom Sawyer's Island would also mean changing the Americana theme surrounding it. Indeed, asked one Imagineer, "What are guests going to think of the Mark Twain [a stern-wheel riverboat] gliding around a tropical island?"
imagineer boy
Well-Known Member
That's good. Because I was really starting to think that the imagineers had completely lost it. :lol:
Lewis Carroll
Account Suspended
Lee
Adventurer
Well, then....gonna just have to trust me on this one.
And if you notice, the writer isn't saying he hasn't heard anything, but that quite a few people (who are in a position to know) haven't heard anything. That is the position I'm in. I asked some folks who should know...they said nothing is greenlit for the island at this point.
imagineer boy
Well-Known Member
Well Lee, if anyone tells you that if they're even slightly thinking about green lighting it, beat the crap out of them please. 
Lewis Carroll
Account Suspended
and you are probably right. However, I remember a time when Midway Mania, Rockit Mountain, Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage were not greenlit yet but Al Lutz talked about them in his articles insisting that they were going to happen.
On a completly unrelated note, Lee is it true that Tom Fitzgerald is spearheading a revitilization project for epcot? Trying to update and refurbish small and large things for epcot's 25th. ? I didn't think Fitzgerald had the heart for something like that.
Lee
Adventurer
I have heard his name in connection with some of that sort of stuff...small, not large...but I don't know to what extent he's actually involved.
On a related note, I have heard again of some...um...loss of jobs...and his name has come up....again.