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

[Eddie Sotto]

The little featurette on the making of the Parade sequence is my favorite part. Reminds me of being there days before.

 

[luv]

I still think a non-cartoon ride through the body would be fascinating. It wouldn't really need much of a story, just some narration. The ride itself would be wondrous. IMO. (But I've wanted to do it since I saw "Innerspace" and am biased.)

 

[Eddie Sotto]

If you have not seen it, here's the long gone "Body Wars" ride through.

 

[fngoofy]

Hello Eddie,
I was curious on your thoughts concerning the new Tomorrowland movie and any chance its look and feel would be brought into the parks if the movie is a success. Having read the movie description and premise it seems we will be getting good shots of the scientific utopian alternate dimension. Brad Bird"s fantastic look and feel of Incredibles highlighted the mix of retro, future and familiar; so I imagine Tomorrowland will be even more visually pleasing.

If the movie is a success could you see them using design elements from the movie in future Tomorrowland makeovers?

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Hello Eddie,
I was curious on your thoughts concerning the new Tomorrowland movie and any chance its look and feel would be brought into the parks if the movie is a success. Having read the movie description and premise it seems we will be getting good shots of the scientific utopian alternate dimension. Brad Bird"s fantastic look and feel of Incredibles highlighted the mix of retro, future and familiar; so I imagine Tomorrowland will be even more visually pleasing.

If the movie is a success could you see them using design elements from the movie in future Tomorrowland makeovers?

Yes. It's probably more than half of the reason they are making it. The company always tries to reinvent it's assets and Tomorrowland has been a tricky one.

 

[ChrisFL]

I appreciate the 1920's period and the art direction looks pretty good in the previews. Not sure about the film itself. In some ways it looks like kids playing dress up. Let me know what you think.

Well, 2 weeks late, but I finally watched The Great Gatsby today and thoroughly enjoyed it. I even watched it in 3D although it was more because of the covenient time it was being shown than actually wanting to see the 3D version of it.....having said that, I do think 3D actually did add something to this movie.

I would definitely watch the movie again, it has great cinematography (Carey Mulligan being incredibly adorable doesn't hurt either)

 

[RedFurredCadet]

The original WOL pavilion was more about wellness than anything else. There is a fascinating world of prosthetics and genetic research that could be made entertaining. I know, good luck with that. Medicine is both looking forward in genetic and stem cell research, and in a way backward with preventive homeopathic remedies, solving health issues beyond targeted drugs in more holistic and safer ways. Robotic laser surgery and stuff like that is pretty interesting as well. There is also the story of our body as a machine that is truly fascinating. Even the Brain is a world unto itself. Human bodies are a miracle of creation and would be very EPCOT. WOL touched on birth but we never felt the awe of it. "Body Wars" simulators took us through the body in a fun way, but a squeamish execution of that show left something to be desired. Maybe using a free ranging vehicle (Mystic Manor or Pooh TDL) would be a good "blood cell" way of exploring the brain? It's tough in a theme park to deal with health as its more morose side always looms out there and you don't really want to think of mortality while on vacation. In the old amusement parks of Coney island, the incubators with live babies were hands down the most successful shows. Life was always more interesting than death. That's probably why the old pavilion was more about life extension via good practices than advances in drugs, blood and medicine. I think there may be room for both done well.

My husband and I were just talking about that the other night. With the advancements in robotic limbs and testing and treatments on children still in utero, as well as the improvements in physical fitness opportunities, it would seem a natural and useful fit to EPCOT. They could even get Captain Hook involved I suppose.

I see your suggestions on what could have saved Wonders of Life from the coma, and I raise you my thoughts.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Interesting page, thanks. IMHO, one possible reason that the Body Wars attraction was discomforting to some is the fact that within the arteries and organic interiors there is no horizon or reference point to follow such as a leader. In Star Tours, you are in space, but following another object or referencing planets, Death Star etc. We search for orientation and finding none become anxious as the movement loses visual sync.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Knott's added lots of AA figures to it's Classic Log Ride.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Knott's added lots of AA figures to it's Classic Log Ride.

Timber Mountain looks great. Knott's I really coming along. I'm really happy they're still trying to preserve Ghost Town. Now if they could do something with Ghost Rider and make it less painful...

 

[BryceM]

Knott's added lots of AA figures to it's Classic Log Ride.

Wow! I've never been to Knott's, but I think it's awesome they still care about a classic attraction such as this when the park seems to be a more of a "coaster park" in recent years. From pictures I've seen of Knott's, I think the park has some nice theming as a whole. The western areas looked spectacular!

 

[fngoofy]

Interesting page, thanks. IMHO, one possible reason that the Body Wars attraction was discomforting to some is the fact that within the arteries and organic interiors there is no horizon or reference point to follow such as a leader. In Star Tours, you are in space, but following another object or referencing planets, Death Star etc. We search for orientation and finding none become anxious as the movement loses visual sync.

I agree. Also, during Body Wars there was the moment when the ship lost power and while waiting for a synapse to power you back up your ship was in a free floating, fluid movement state. This was the part that always brought on the seasickness for me, the lack of a feeling of forward motion and fluid movement on multiple axis.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I agree. Also, during Body Wars there was the moment when the ship lost power and while waiting for a synapse to power you back up your ship was in a free floating, fluid movement state. This was the part that always brought on the seasickness for me, the lack of a feeling of forward motion and fluid movement on multiple axis.

If you watch video of Body Wars you'll see that there's an odd cut where the screen fades to black and then comes back really quickly. They cut out a small section that they determined was the portion that was over the top for causing motion sickness.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

@Eddie Sotto, I may have asked you this before, but was there ever a thought of putting a restaurant like the Harmonia Gardens in DLP, or was Plaza Gardens considered enough?

 

[Eddie Sotto]

@Eddie Sotto, I may have asked you this before, but was there ever a thought of putting a restaurant like the Harmonia Gardens in DLP, or was Plaza Gardens considered enough?

Not seriously. Dancing Waiters would have been nice, and we did discuss it. We did consider a speak easy jazz concept (where Walt's Restaurant is now) with a secret entry and floor show, and that's as close as it got. That got cut too. Think of the speakeasy in the movie "Some Like it Hot". We started out the the Crystal Palace as in WDW and added a crystal piano that would rise up from the basement in the main conservatory. When the Piano and it's elevator got cut, I gave up the Palace and we ended up with the Plaza Inn.

 

[IlikeDW]

It is. Thank you for the shout out. It is great to see that. The credit of course goes to our chef John Sedlar. Gold also gave us "Best new Restaurant in LA" when we opened about 5 years ago. If you have not tried Rivera, do so, it is a very unique dining experience.

Made a trip out west for work last week and took the opportunity to have lunch at Rivera, was well worth the side trip.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

Given all the advancements in modern medicine I would love to see the Wonders of Life Pavilion completely refurbished and re-imagined. Bring back and updated version of body wars. There is so much they could do with that place. It seems like they have lost the original "vision" of EPCOT, which was education. As a kid I loved the " after ride" experiences and interactive experiences.

It's kinda weird how the Wonders of Life Pavilion faded away. I liked Body Wars, but also didn't like that it was the same simulator as Star Tours. Attractions seem so expensive to build these days, you'd figure they could have recycled a previously developed ride system, such as the ones used in Horizons or World of Motion, and built a modern version of Adventures Thru Inner Space, but have it about going through a living organism, not necessarily a human. Maybe going into a human body didn't wash well with some of the foreigners who visited Epcot.

 

[ChrisFL]

It's kinda weird how the Wonders of Life Pavilion faded away. I liked Body Wars, but also didn't like that it was the same simulator as Star Tours. Attractions seem so expensive to build these days, you'd figure they could have recycled a previously developed ride system, such as the ones used in Horizons or World of Motion, and built a modern version of Adventures Thru Inner Space, but have it about going through a living organism. Maybe going into a human body didn't wash well with some of the foreigners who visited Epcot.

Well I don't think Star Tours was ever planned for WDW, so Body Wars was initially the WDW version, then MGM Studios desperately needed new attractions.

Anyway, I LOVE the WOL building, it's so nice inside....but they definitely stuck the interior design firmly in the 1980's

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

Don't get me started again on a "Tron Uprising" Attraction or restyled Tron-esque Tomorrowland.

I'm surprised they haven't put in a little bit of Tron in Tomorrowland. As opposed to meticulously sculpting a lunar surface, the geometric world of Tron seems that it would be relatively easy to replicate with plastic.

They're looking at upgrading the classic dark rides in Fantasyland in Disneyland. Adding greater range of motion to the limited motion animatronics and motionless figures would be cool, but it seems like it would be hard to change the timing of the rides so that guests get a closer look at some of the fancier animatronics. Not sure I want every dark ride to be like Monsters Inc. with a Roz type animatronic talking to me at the end, though I'm sure some rides will get something like this.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

The world of Tron in it's color and energy is closer to the implied optimism of the old 67 Tomorrowland than they Jules Verne meets Art Deco mashup they have now. A noble effort, but not enough to create a lasting impact. Unlike "Iron Man" or other properties (except Star Wars), Tron is a world with every detail being determined, from the logic to the shoes. Seamless and cool. The Tomorrowland movie is likely a stab at fixing the area, but we'll see. Tron could be an EPCOT scaled indoor pavilion (Argon square) where you can control light and then do several attractions, food retail, or arcade on the inside. Note Tron and Progress City image. I'd go there right now. That's the key to all of this, you have to look at the image and say, I'd like to explore that place. Even more than experience the story.