Eddie Sotto's take on the current state of the parks (Part II)

[BlueSkyDriveBy]

Welcome BSDB! I've read you elsewhere and enjoy your writing. We're glad to have you.

Thanks!

I did see some of the opening and I thought it was all pretty interesting and quite breathtaking at times. The transitions from the Farm to the Industrial Revolution reminded me of something Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge) would do.

I hadn't thought about it before, but you're correct. Definitely in the style of Baz. I'm eager to see what he does with Gatsby.

The Smokestacks rising and the flying Rings were also really dramatic and cool. They blended many different tracks at once and it must have been a wild sonic experience. It made me wonder why World Showcase could not do something more abstract...kind of multi cultural and yet historic to update Illuminations.

YES! That's precisely what Disney park shows need more of, that 'blending of many different tracks.'

So many of the park shows focus on one singular element at a time, then switch to another singular element for awhile, then yet another, ad nauseam. For a typical stage and theatre setting, that's fine, given the inherent lack of real estate. But a show like Illuminations is massive in size because of the World Showcase venue, requiring an atypical theatre presentation. It's the perfect setting for that 'blending of many different tracks' we saw at the Opening Ceremony.

I wish Disney would take a page from Danny Boyle and the others who've created these Olympic spectacles, and bring their park shows into the 21st century for their multi-tasking audiences. We can handle many different tracks at once. In fact, I would argue that first world cultures not only handle it, but prefer it. Focusing on one singular element at a time has become lazy and unimaginative. Time for Disney to jack up the 'WOW!' factor once again.

I usually enjoy the openings as they raise the bar in one way or another. This one did so too. Thanks for asking. What did you like?

Pretty much what you did. The transition from agrarian Britain to industrial was simply awesome. All of those sooty, gritty workers rising up from below the tree's branches, juxtaposed to the cadre of well-heeled Victorian businessmen and suffragette marchers, the raising of the smoke stacks, the foundry workers pouring the ring, all underscored with that massive driving drum beat... simply genius. Very emotional presentation for what could have been a total snore.

Love the Avatar!

You should. You designed it!

 

[Cosmic Commando]

20 years is a long time and if you look at change, who would have seen the smartphone coming in 1992? I was touring Boeing some time ago and they are out there researching algae jet fuel and other cheaper, cleaner and naturally renewable alternatives to fossil fuels for planes. The only issue is how you can make enough of it to eventually fuel the whole industry. The military does not seem to be worried about that.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/13/algae-solve-pentagon-fuel-problem
http://allaboutalgae.com/aviation-fuel/

Some interesting alternatives. In 20 years, who knows where technology will have taken that industry when the train arrives? Other than the random price fluctuation of fossil fuel caused by manipulation, Air travel by design is only getting more efficient (as it is privately competitive) with lighter carbon fiber fuselages (Dreamliner)
http://www.newairplane.com/787/design_highlights/#/home
and more efficient engines (A380), so pricing will likely be more competitive in the future. Rail travel seems the opposite (unless they do an algae powered Scumtrak express.) It's the hassle of security and packing in too many people that keep me from wanting to fly.

I think air travel is the way of the future. Like you said, the industry is so competitive and that keeps innovation(good:lighter planes and bad:new fees) going and costs down. The very nature of air travel creates more competition than rail: you don't need to own and maintain thousands of miles of track. The air network is supremely flexible, maybe moreso than any other transportation system. I hate to be grim, but you build your 500 miles of high-speed track for $60 BILLION or more, and then it just takes one truck packed with fertilizer in the middle of Nowheresville, CA to bring everything screeching to a halt until repairs can be made who knows when and who knows at what cost. It seems like it's relatively easy to get the materials to do damage, but harder to get them to the right place. You can't guard 500 miles of track. After that terrible day on 9/11, the worst terrorist attack ever, the air network was essentially unaffected. People were scared to fly, of course, but they could if they needed to. Even if an airport was destroyed, even my little metro area of barely one million people has three larger airports within an hour's drive of each other.

 

[ChrisFL]

The Smokestacks rising and the flying Rings were also really dramatic and cool. They blended many different tracks at once and it must have been a wild sonic experience. It made me wonder why World Showcase could not do something more abstract...kind of multi cultural and yet historic to update Illuminations. I usually enjoy the openings as they raise the bar in one way or another. This one did so too. Thanks for asking. What did you like?

I'll just add my 2 cents...after the initial portion, the rest wasn't really that memorable.

I really liked the forging and motlen steel that they did to from the rings. It looked so real, even though it was clearly lots of clever use of video screens or projections with extra sparking effects.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

I'll just add my 2 cents...after the initial portion, the rest wasn't really that memorable.

I really liked the forging and motlen steel that they did to from the rings. It looked so real, even though it was clearly lots of clever use of video screens or projections with extra sparking effects.

When it went to commercial after that sequence I had to do something else so that was all I got to see.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

I wish Disney would take a page from Danny Boyle and the others who've created these Olympic spectacles, and bring their park shows into the 21st century for their multi-tasking audiences. We can handle many different tracks at once. In fact, I would argue that first world cultures not only handle it, but prefer it. Focusing on one singular element at a time has become lazy and unimaginative. Time for Disney to jack up the 'WOW!' factor once again.

10.4 on the "wow" factor. We can handle lots of action, but I think we still focus on each element for a time. What is interesting about the "multitasking" aspect of those spectacles is that we are seeing it through the filter of a TV program director who is tossing to closeups of each segment as it's all unfolding, the blimp aerial, back to workers, to the dancers, to the drummers, back to the rising smokestacks, up to the rings, etc. Within the mass of choreographed action, he's taking us into a clear and rehearsed linear sequence of shots. It feels random as if reportage. As a spectator in the stands (or a guest at EPCOT), sans all the cutting, I wonder if it all just looks like a montage from those somewhat dissaffected distances. The big moves stand out and really sing, like those smokestacks and the workers, etc. Wow.

 

[lazyboy97o]

One of the big problems with high speed rail in the United States is the desire amongst civic leaders to "spread the wealth" of the project by adding on more stops so that the service seems more accessible and broader in its service. This kills high speed rail as it slows down the travel times. They also sound cool, they are what gets proposed. High speed rail is not an all around solution. It is a single component for limited point-to-point travel along heavy traffic corridors. That was the huge problem with the Florida High Speed Rail project. There is not a lot of traffic on the Tampa-Orlando route and the number of stops and close proximity of locations prevented any real use of speed. Conventional rail would be able to make the trip in about 10 minutes slower than high speed rail which would have cost millions/billions more. California needs to remember that the trains will not be an end all, just a component that is most attractive to business travelers who will appreciate the amenities that high speed rail can offer.


I recently visited Cars Land and have to say, I think it is a little too big for its own good. The land was built for cars, not people. There are a lot of store fronts, that based on the size of the area, I would expect to be more than just fronts. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter has similar situations, but these become less noticeable because it is all so close together and there is so much going on in the spaces. In Cars Land there is space between shops, the dead zones of the urban strip. The three shops have unique merchandise, but I do not think it is enough. A lot of it is found throughout the rest of the Resort. The shops of Radiator Springs lack the fulfillment of the intrigue that is created on the outside and spoiled by other shops outside Cars Land. It is an impressive sight that unfortunately feels too much like a theme park. I just do not get the impression that somebody was here before me, that there is a history before this year.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

For those of you who never experienced the "ElecTRONica" at DCA, here's a video of the cool one man laser show. Kinda fun to watch and demonstrates how well Tron trnaslates to the real world. I want to see that Grid built!

 

[Eddie Sotto]

I recently visited Cars Land and have to say, I think it is a little too big for its own good. The land was built for cars, not people. There are a lot of store fronts, that based on the size of the area, I would expect to be more than just fronts. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter has similar situations, but these become less noticeable because it is all so close together and there is so much going on in the spaces. In Cars Land there is space between shops, the dead zones of the urban strip. The three shops have unique merchandise, but I do not think it is enough. A lot of it is found throughout the rest of the Resort. The shops of Radiator Springs lack the fulfillment of the intrigue that is created on the outside and spoiled by other shops outside Cars Land. It is an impressive sight that unfortunately feels too much like a theme park. I just do not get the impression that somebody was here before me, that there is a history before this year.

Thanks for the perspectives. Agree that you kind of want to see more going on in the street or the bars being open. I think they will do more as time goes on as the Luigi tire thing is just not a great attraction, especially for the capacity. I do think the overall effect of the land is awesome.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I think they will do more as time goes on as the Luigi tire thing is just not a great attraction, especially for the capacity.

Once we figured out moving, I thought it was fun. Like Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, I was hoping for something a little faster (and I get motion sick). I'm surprised they didn't bring back the boom from the Flying Saucers to allow for simultaneous loading and riding. I have seen several people express that they think something like Aquatopia would be better, and I think it probably would. I think the challenge would be hiding the ride path that would inevitably be marked onto the ride surface. I have seen a few people mention that even with the layer of water, one can still see the path the Aquatopia vehicles take on their cycle trough the attraction.

 

[WDW1974]

Hey Eddie. First time poster here on WDWMagic, but long time fan of your work.

I was just wondering if you caught the Opening Ceremony for London 2012 and what you thought of it all, particularly the use of space and sound. Thanks.

I just wanted to say as a fan of the poster, it's good to see old Blue Sky Driving By these MAGICal parts ... you should wade out of this thread as well from time to time, something I've suggested to Eddie but he never seems keen on mingling with the commoners!

Not that you asked me, but I liked the 12 opening better because I wasn't sweltering in the Bird's Nest and then dealing with the most massive group of humanity I ever saw in the streets and subway stations to get back to my apartment. ... Besides, while China has an amazing history, the UK has some amazing music!

 

[bcoachable]

Electronica looks very cool! reminded me of Bono during the U2 encore during the last tour... I will silently hope something can be done with Tron to, if nothing else freshen up the tomorrow land section of Wdw....

 

[Eddie Sotto]

It's funny that when Blue Sky DB was showing her Avatar, it is a shot from the Moonrock Crater wall from the Encounter Restaurant at LAX. This reminded me that when we were doing it, one of the edicts from WDI was that we couldn't pull talent away from other jobs, meaning it was a low priority. We desperately needed skilled rock sculptors to do that wall and they were all busy and did not dare show up and do it. I ended up taking cardboard discs of various sizes and scribing and carving most of the wet plaster myself. Not a proud moment but it had to get done. I'm totally unqualified to do this and when the real guys showed up, they were pretty embarrassed by it and wished they had come by and sculpted it after all. Susan Dain, a talented scenic artist had the idea of doing it all in metallics and that saved it in my opinion. I was pretty happy with it, but I can see their point! I'm attaching my sketch elevation of the wall and BSDB's Avatar.

 

[Nemo14]

It's funny that when Blue Sky DB was showing her Avatar, it is a shot from the Moonrock Crater wall from the Encounter Restaurant at LAX. This reminded me that when we were doing it, one of the edicts from WDI was that we couldn't pull talent away from other jobs, meaning it was a low priority. We desperately needed skilled rock sculptors to do that wall and they were all busy and did not dare show up and do it. I ended up taking cardboard discs of various sizes and scribing and carving most of the wet plaster myself. Not a proud moment but it had to get done. I'm totally unqualified to do this and when the real guys showed up, they were pretty embarrassed by it and wished they had come by and sculpted it after all. Susan Dain, a talented scenic artist had the idea of doing it all in metallics and that saved it in my opinion. I was pretty happy with it, but I can see their point! I'm attaching my sketch elevation of the wall and BSDB's Avatar.

View attachment 28020View attachment 28019View attachment 28021

I saw your reference to it the other day, and had no idea what you two were talking about. Thanks for the background info.

 

[ChrisFL]

Hmm, maybe I should put a "Sotto Original" as my avatar...

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Hmm, maybe I should put a "Sotto Original" as my avatar...

Go right ahead!

 

[Jeanine]

So an interesting TV moment...

Someone in the house was watching "Family Feud," a game show that drives me crazy because they award for common answers, rather than right answers, and one of the categories was "Rides at Disneyland." They managed to get Pirates, Haunted Mansion, it's a small world, and then started getting stymied. One guy guessed "the ride with the log." Told that he had to give an actual name, he went with "Log Mountain." The next girl said "Logjammer," and the other team tried to steal with "The Mad Hatter." When they revealed the remaining answers, they ended up being "Rocket Jets," and "Tower of Terror."

So I thought this was kind of interesting--that given a survey of around 110 people, apparently not significantly interested in Disney matters, Disneyland to them still only means the handful of rides that were created or started from Walt's time. Nothing since then has apparently impinged on their consciousness in the same sense. Do we think it's a measure of how much more in tune Walt was with what people liked/wanted/needed than anyone who followed him? Or is it just that nowadays there are so many different entertainment options, with the internet and different brands of theme parks, that nothing can ever get the same focused attention, and claim the same amount of real estate on the collective unconscious, that those rides did, back in the day?

 

[Eddie Sotto]

How old was the episode of FF?

It might also mean that those rides are most unique an iconic. Artists sketches or cartoons of the park usually have the Monorail, Matterhorn, Castle and maybe Space Mountain. The park boils down to what looks exotic and those things stay in your mind. Seems they were under pressure and blanking.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

It's hot. It's August. How does a Disneytologist mentally "chill" in all this heat?

Every so often we all need to ride the original Peoplemover and just slow down, feel the bumpy track and hear the rickey build quality of our vehicle while we soak in the monaural sound system. Yeah. Go analog for a while and enjoy "imperfection" in the Superspeed tunnel, just like Kevin Flynn. Thought this would be relaxing wherever you are. I'm feeling better already.



For advanced cases of stress or heat stroke, there is this yodel infused tribute to the other relaxing attraction, the Skyway.

 

[LongtimeReader]

Amazing. I never got to ride either in Disneyland, only WDW. I do hope they revive and update the original PeopleMover there, it seems like such a great crowd eater that can be made quite interesting visually without resorting to changing the leisurely pace. (And though it's still blissfully alive and mostly well in WDW, an update there would be welcome too!) I had to giggle at the creaks and groans those vehicles made. Man, they were really showing their age.

The Skyway I don't miss as much, because even as a kid all I can remember about it was how ugly all the rooftops looked. But a good flashback to be sure, and definitely peaceful attractions that are missed in the summer months!

 

[ChrisFL]

wow, the Peoplemover looked VERY bumpy in that video. I never had the opportunity to ride it at Disneyland either