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DisneySky - COMPLETE & RESTORED
- Thread starter D Hulk
- Start date
Pi on my Cake
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
Carousel of Flight
B-ticket carousel
A carousel featuring a wide collection of Disney birds
Every theme park needs a carousel!
In fact, every family-oriented theme park needs a full suite of flat rides. Though these rides can often come across like “filler,” done right a grouping of flat rides taken as a whole can become an essential part of a visit and a fond memory afterwards. Pioneer Fields boasts three of DisneySky’s five flat rides (with another one very close by in Mythic Realms). Every one of these three rides is accessible for everyone, fully visible from walkways (no hidden scares!) and without height restrictions.
Carousel of Flight is located at the center of Paseo Plaza’s green space. It occupies the colonial bandstand you would expect to find in any Latin American park. A tiny bronze Disney songbird tops the bandstand’s roof. Our carousel’s simple charms and engaging music bring cheer to the entire plaza, beckoning all to come and ride.
The queue is incredibly minimalistic, simply circling the bandstand’s perimeter and meandering through the symmetrical colonial park. Cast members can provide tenting as needed in case of extreme heat or rain, but here in Southern California, typically a verdant oasis of trees is all that’s needed! Some low key theming permeates the park, connecting to the carousel’s avian elements. There are bird-shaped topiaries in the square lawns. There are also old Incan bird statues on display, since it’s a typical sight in South American cities to find relocated relics like these.
RIDE STATS
Ride type: Carousel
Capacity per Ride: 70
Hourly capacity: 1,050
Ride cycle duration: 2 minutes
Height restriction: None
Ride type: Carousel
Capacity per Ride: 70
Hourly capacity: 1,050
Ride cycle duration: 2 minutes
Height restriction: None
Carousel of Flight is controlled from a simple operations stand. Colorful wood inlays within the bandstand depict Audubon bird sketches. In place of horses, here guests ride on birds! Originally this was meant to complete a Disneyland Resort land-sea-sky carousel pattern, before California Adventure’s Triton’s Carousel removed its aquatic theme and with Pixar Pier’s arrival became Jesse’s Critter Carousel. No matter, the chance to ride on birdback is still a wonderfully adorable experience!
There are 68 bird “horses” in total, plus one bench for riders needing a break. (The bench resembles peacocks, flightless birds.) Thirty-six of the “horses” are generic Disney songbirds, the types you’d see in Snow White or Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty accompanying a princess. The other thirty-two “horses” are all unique carvings, divided into groupings of four. These groups represent the widest possible variety of Disney birds, done here in a setting where such character clutter seems acceptable.
These eight groups of four each are as follows:
GROUP A: Two ostriches from Fantasia, and two flamingos from Fantasia 2000
GROUP B: The four crows from Dumbo
GROUP C: The four vultures from The Jungle Book
GROUP D: Four penguin waiters from Mary Poppins
GROUP E: A group of small forest songbirds, consisting of Wart in his bird form from The Sword in the Stone, both Dinky and Boomer from The Fox & the Hound, and lastly Orange Bird
GROUP F: The seabird group, consisting of Orville from The Rescuers, his brother Wilbur from The Rescuers Down Under, the Stork from Dumbo, and Scuttle from The Little Mermaid
GROUP G: The owl group, consisting of Owl from Bambi, Owl from Winnie the Pooh, Big Mama from The Fox & the Hound, and Archimedes from The Sword in the Stone
GROUP H: The exotic bird group, consisting of Iago from Aladdin, Zazu from The Lion King, Flit from Pocahontas, and Heihei from Moana
For two minutes, riders spin along in a counter-clockwise direction as their bird bobs up & down. Music plays from a colorful vintage calliope, visible upon a stone platform in the park. The carousel’s main musical theme is “I Can Fly” from Peter Pan, sometimes mixed with UP’s “Married Life.” The calliope regularly switches up its tunes, especially with pieces from Pixar’s Coco...Note that this is justifiable in-universe, since Pioneer Fields is set following Hector’s death and during Ernesto de la Cruz’s early musical career. Coco songs include “Remember Me,” “Un Poco Loco,” and “The World Es Mi Familia.”
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Airtopia
B-ticket flat ride
Enjoy panoramic vistas from a hot air balloon high up in the sky
Entering from either direction, the first thing guests will notice in Pioneer Fields is the Airtopia hot air balloon moored in mid-air in the land’s “weenie” location. This is a magnificent sight, a brightly-hued red & white hot air balloon one-hundred feet in the air. The design resembles Paris’ Ballon Magnifique, from the Golden Age of Ballooning when the skies held a particular allure. Rope netting and mooring lines keep our balloon from flying off...Actually the balloon is a structure held up like a silo by metal legs, which are dressed to resemble rope tethers. Occasionally flames will fire within the balloon’s basket, serving as a major crowd-drawing spectacle.
A circle of smaller hot air balloons rise and descend beneath the main balloon. They rise and lower on wires, filling the skies with bright colors. This is Airtopia, so-named to complement Autopia at Disneyland and Aquatopia at DisneySea. Here guests can actually guide their own balloon, go as high as they like, and enjoy some of the most spectacular panoramic sights in all of DisneySky while soaring like angels!
Airtopia’s queue begins right alongside Mickey’s Plane Crazy, at the corner where Paseo Plaza transitions into the farmlands. Near the entrance, there are several opened crates which shipped the little three-person hot air balloons, complete with illustrated instructions. Crate manifests are addressed to one “Prof. R. Diesel,” for recall that Rudolph Blauerhimmel changed his name when emigrating to Pioneer Fields. There is a nearby balloon assembly work station under an umbrella, the sort of neatly-staged scene which Imagineering loves to create. This one includes typed missives filling out the Blauerhimmel backstory to date (his transatlantic move, his barnstorming son William).
The queue is set in a Spanish-style chicken & bird coop. Gaudi-esque mosaic tile artwork on the coop’s inside shows stylized images of hot air balloons. A metal sign reads “Western Balloon Ascent,” a nod to a never-built Disneyland attraction. With wide open windows on one side, guests can watch Airtopia in action while they wait.
RIDE STATS
Ride type: Family drop tower
Capacity per Balloon: 3
Balloons per Ride: 16
Hourly capacity: 960
Ride cycle duration: 2 minutes
Height restriction: None
Ride type: Family drop tower
Capacity per Balloon: 3
Balloons per Ride: 16
Hourly capacity: 960
Ride cycle duration: 2 minutes
Height restriction: None
There are sixteen rideable balloons in total, each seating three guests, with a patterned color scheme ranging from red to yellow to blue to orange. All the little balloons are arranged in a circle around a beautiful tiered flower bed directly beneath the full-scale Airtopia Balloon. Flowerbed perennials continue the balloons’ color scheme. All of this is overseen by the ride operator, whose control building is a tall cylindrical dovecote made of river stone.
Cast members pre-arrange riders into groups. They fill a literal horse corral with just enough guests for each ride cycle, to maximize efficiency. When the time is right, guests rush out and board the wicker baskets beneath their balloons. Seating is 360 degrees facing inwards like on Mad Tea Party, so that guests may face any direction they please. In place of the teacups’ central turntable, baskets feature an inflation pump lever.
“Wild Blue Yonder,” the U.S. Air Force Song, begins. Balloons gently rise up vertically. Airtopia’s ride system is somewhat similar to DisneySea’s version of Jumpin’ Jellyfish (nothing like DCA’s), where vehicles move up and down vertically along guide wires but do not move in any other direction. Airtopia’s little hot air balloons will rise up to a height of 20 feet, then begin a hovering rhythm down 10 feet, then back up…
At least, that’s what happens if riders do nothing…
If riders pump their central levers - and thus audibly “inflate” their balloon - they will go higher and higher. For younger or more timid riders just getting accustomed to flight, this is a great interactive mechanism to slowly test their wills and break the bounds of earth. For our bolder riders - including the thrill-seeker types who might normally shun kiddie flat rides - Airtopia becomes a battle of strength and bravery to reach the maximum 80 foot height...all before the two minute ride time concludes and balloons descend thrillingly back to solid ground. Riders who reach this maximum height directly alongside the big balloon’s hanging basket will be rewarded with fabulous views of Mt. Helios, Pioneer Fields, and the rest of DisneySky’s splendors!
@James G., how long researching Disney birds? Not terribly long! The Internet knows everything.
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Arctic-Xodus
Active Member
When u doin Pedro's Mail Carriers, man?
Suchomimus
Well-Known Member
Probably tomorrow, though why he didn't do it Thursday, Plane Crazy Friday and Saturday, and the carousel tomorrow is beyond me.
Evilgidgit
Well-Known Member
Pedro’s Mail Carriers
B-ticket flat ride
Practice for a flight across the Andes with Pedro the mail plane
Pilots-in-training will love this simple spinning caterpillar ride, where they train with Pedro the Plane in preparation for a daring flight across the Andes. With its cute character and its non-threatening ride system, Pedro’s Mail Carriers is a fantastic adventure for the young or the young-at-heart.
Pedro is a fairly obscure character from Disney’s 1942 Saludos Amigos...yet he fits perfectly! Pedro is an anthropomorphic red mail plane from Santiago, Chile. He is incredibly adorable, always yearning to cross the Andes like his big airplane parents. Pedro fits DisneySky - and Pioneer Fields - so well that his obscurity shouldn’t matter. With Pedro’s naturally appealing baby face and can-do spirit, this ride should propel him back into Disney’s spotlight.
Pedro’s Mail Carriers is located in the green pastures across the way from UP Snapshot Safari, near the edge of Pioneer Fields. The ride itself is readily visible both from common walkways and from Barnyard Barbecue. Visual elements such as anthropomorphized airplanes are given realistic textures so that they carefully integrate into this kid-friendly area.
The ride entrance is alongside a fiberglass Pedro photo-op. Children can climb aboard this Pedro for pictures, or simply to get comfortable with the ride vehicles. Behind a white picket fence, and past cartoonishly bulbous air fuel tanks, the ride spins merrily.
Queueing is to the right where a creek separates Pioneer Fields from Diesel Bay. Guests pass under an air traffic control tower. In contrast to Saludos Amigos, this tower is de-anthropomorphized slightly, though it still comes complete with a red cap and oversized bullhorn. Past a windsock, outdoor switchbacks explore Pedro’s airfield. Little decorative sights add vibrancy: A mail tower with dangling mail bag, Pedro’s gasoline “bottle,” a biplane-shaped weathervane. Cyprus trees obscure views of the jungle wilderness across the river, or of the DisneySky JetRail sliding by.
A covered queue continues into a nearby hangar with orange-and-yellow checkered roof. This is the “Escuela de Aviones.” This space is full of mail bags and spotlights. A chalkboard displays airplane-themed arithmetic. There is a dangling airplane skeleton, of all things. A projector in one corner plays a loop of the original “Pedro” animated short dubbed into Spanish. Maps visually exposit the story of Pedro’s flight. In big cartoony style, air maps plot the route from Santiago to Mendoza, Argentina. The route passes Aconcagua, a snow-capped Andean mountain with a big scary anthropomorphized face.
RIDE STATS
Ride type: Caterpillar
Capacity per Ride: 36
Hourly capacity: 720
Ride cycle duration: 2 minutes
Height restriction: None
Ride type: Caterpillar
Capacity per Ride: 36
Hourly capacity: 720
Ride cycle duration: 2 minutes
Height restriction: None
Cast members hand guests “flight tickets” in order to track the next rider group. The ride system is a duplicate of Slinky Dog Dash as seen in Hong Kong Disneyland and Walt Disney Studios Park. It is a spinning caterpillar, a carnival classic. Set in a loop around an airfield, the lead car is a static figure of Pedro. Guests ride in one of 18 oversized mail satchels dragged behind Pedro. They sit on envelope benches.
Pedro’s Mail Carriers lasts for two minutes, accompanied by a vintage Chilean cover of “If You Had Wings” and the sound of engine propellers. Pedro - and riders in their satchels - race around a central limestone crag. There are several crags in the surrounding fields, but this central rock has been crudely painted white (note the empty paint cans nearby) to resemble the fearsome, snowy Aconcagua peak...neatly mirroring the distant Mt. Helios. Mail satchels undulate up and down along the ride platform’s gentle hills, circling an airfield plaza full of labeled hangar homes where “Papa” and “Mama” proudly watch on. (Of course, the tiny “Pedro” hangar is empty.) The ride operator oversees from - where else? - an airport control tower.
Mail satchels glide to a gentle stop as the ride concludes. “Welcome back, pilots. Remain seated until Pedro has come in for a complete landing.”
On its own, Pedro’s Mail Carriers is clearly a minor ride. Yet when combined with the other child-friendly attractions nearby, it becomes part of a great adventure for the whole family!
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James G.
Well-Known Member
"There is a dangling airplane skeleton, of all things." Uh, why? The first thing I visualized is an airplane carcass being butchered for spare parts. Personally, this would give me a bit of the creeps, especially in the queue for a "family" ride. The rest of the ride is terrific!
Suchomimus
Well-Known Member
To show an example to those who question the Dazzling Hulk.
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Chaos Cat
Well-Known Member
You know, when you said "Plane Skeleton," I thought that meant like the metal frame or something like that, not actual bones, holy [Sweet Honey Iced Tea], that's horrifying!
Pi on my Cake
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
Honestly, way creepy to think about the implications of now as an adult. But as a kid I would've loved it haha
DisneySky JetRail
Pioneer Fields Station
C-ticket transportation ride
This is the second layover spot for the JetRail’s circle tour of DisneySky. The Pioneer Fields station sits at the eastern end of Paseo Plaza facing Paseo Plaza’s colonial park. This was originally a Victorian-style small town train depot, now newly converted. The many-gabled building is colored in the Chilean Valparaiso style, all shining primary colors, and structured like the Santa Anita Depot in Arcadia, California. While waiting for the JetRail under a trellis, guests may observe decorative displays in the station’s sealed-off offices. Inside one office is a storage area for mariachis’ instruments. Another office holds oversized Dia de los Muertos parade skulls and similar bric-a-brac.
To make room for the suspended JetRail track, the station’s designers had to cut through striated shale cliffs on the outskirts of town. They exposed in the rock walls the fossils of ancient flying creatures, notably archaeopteryx. It’s a minor thing, but it’s the sort of thematic detail (note always the focus on flight) which makes DisneySky such a wonderful place to simply explore!
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Barnyard Barbecue
Counter service character dining restaurant
Brazilian barbecue, waffles, and comfort food
Families in Pioneer Fields looking for a relaxing place to sit down and grab a delicious, filling meal need look no further than Barnyard Barbecue. This Chilean farmhouse out in the fields serves as one of DisneySky’s largest counter service restaurants. A sprawling menu of comfort items ranges Brazilian barbecue to chicken & waffles and more. This is also a major character dining spot, guaranteeing Disneyfied diners character sightings.
The farmhouse is delicately designed with many different levels of gables and thatched rooftops all intersecting at several points. Maintaining our high level of DisneySky detail, the white stucco walls are weathered, with artful patches of exposed adobe brick beneath. A front yard with white picket fence leads to the covered porch entrance. The yard is filled with dangling wind chimes and eclectic spinning metal wind sculptures - all thematically linked to “sky.” Paper airplanes are visible on display in a farmboy’s upstairs bedroom window.
Heading inside, guests find a traditional rural home dressed up for a big family barbecue gathering! Festive streamers festoon every surface. The initial entry vestibule includes a staircase to the farmhouse’s (inaccessible) upstairs. Hints of personal decor create a lived-in quality.
Diners rather turn right into a large domestic kitchen & dining room, complete with an ordering counter built into the kitchen island. Cast members appear as gaucho farmhands. Like in Hollywood Studios’ Prime Time Diner, these gauchos remain in character - always incredibly welcoming to diners, treating them like close friends invited to a feast. Surrounding decor speaks volumes of the gaucho lifestyle, with bric-a-brac ranging from saddles to ponchos, lassos, bolos, and horseshoes. Art and black-and-white framed photos line the walls, all gaucho-themed. A guitar and accordion rest in an alcove. Some Inca-style llama artwork on display subtly references The Emperor’s New Groove.
Counter service ordering takes place here, with hastily-erected chalkboards listing menu items. (Similar menus appear on flyer posters by the outdoor entrance.) Barnyard Barbecue is one of DisneySky’s dedicated breakfast restaurants, where morning dishes include jumbo-sized Mickey waffles with your choice of toppings. Chefs labor around a huge vintage waffle machine made of iron, which is visible from the porch queue as a crowd draw.
Waffles really are the specialty here! Delicious scents waft across the farmlands throughout the day. Waffles even feature on the lunch & dinner menu, in the form of chicken & waffle meals or as savory-and-sweet waffle sandwiches. The drink menu prominently features yerba mate, a traditional South American tea (served hot or cold). Other afternoon foodstuffs include Brazilian-style barbecue, available a-la carte in many different serving sizes.
While guests can order their barbecue in the kitchen, it is actually roasted out back in the fields. Most of the dining occurs outdoors as well, partly along a backyard porch or on a cobblestone patio beneath shaded picnic tables. Peruvian alpaca tablecloths dot every table. There is plenty to see out here! Kinetic wind sculptures break up the tables. Mickey’s Plane Crazy zooms past in the nearby orchards. The traditional Brazilian barbecue station already mentioned is off to one side, dazzling guests with its open flames and delicious scents. Chefs cook assorted meats on swords, serenading diners with old gaucho folk songs while they work. At night, heat lamps and strings of popcorn lights provide extra ambiance. Disneyland fans who miss the homespun fun of Big Thunder Ranch will find lots to love here.
Indoor dining is set in a Chilean wine cellar. Casks line the stone walls. Brick archways divide up the room. Paintings and decor speak volumes of the proud Chilean wine industry. Barnyard Barbecue’s dedicated restrooms are discreetly located near the wine cellar in similar rooms of brick and adobe.
Character dining takes place in good weather (which happens 95% of the time in Southern California). Pioneer Fields’ vast cast of walkaround characters love to stop by in Barnyard Barbecue and interact with diners. If you eat here you are practically guaranteed to meet Mickey or Russell or Jose Carioca, among others. A timetable out front lists the day’s schedule. Characters make it a point to draw attention from throughout the land, from the rides and the walkways, ensuring that Barnyard Barbecue always remains a focal point!
Pie-In-the-Sky Pie Shoppe
Counter service restaurant
Pies and other bakery sweets
Some of the best baked goods in all of DisneySky are found at the Pie-In-the-Sky Pie Shoppe in Paseo Plaza. There is no missing this shop, what with its massive spinning windmill on the roof - one of Pioneer Fields’ best kinetic elements! The windmil’s design is a mixture of the Solvang windmill (famously seen in Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines) and Brazil’s Holambra windmill (which, surprisingly, is among the few windmills in South America). The moving mill arms are made of converted Flyer wings.
The Shoppe’s entrance includes a marquee of a winged pie. A nearby display beckons guests with visions of pies cooling in the windowsill...one fake pie even releases a chilling mist, in a rather cartoony detail.
The interior is mostly a nice, normal period bakery. Brand new copper kitchenware hangs from metal frames. Big vintage ovens appear nearby, mostly for display. Nothing too spectacular here…
Oh, did I forget to mention the pie fight?!
A comedic pie fight took place not too long ago. The Shoppe is stuck in the aftermath, and the owners are still cleaning up! Pie goo coats the walls; combatants’ silhouettes are visible where the cream filling ceases. (In case you’re wondering, this is theme park decoration, not real gunk.) Whole pies remain stuck against old silent movie comedy posters. A fruity pie aroma permeates the air. The only surfaces unaffected are the spots where guests congregate, and the ordering counter. Nearby is a used mop.
Pie-In-the-Sky Pie Shoppe isn’t itself a dining area. Guests are invited to pick up their slices of seasonal pie (along with other bakery sweets) and enjoy them on the land’s many benches outside.
During special seasonal events, the Shoppe even hosts a genuine “pie eating contest” on the front promenade! Park guests are invited to sign up for this ridiculous spectacle, to be forever immortalized by Disney’s marketing.
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