Eddie Sotto
Premium Member
It reminds me of "How to train your Dragon" for some reason.
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Eddie Sotto's take on the current state of the parks (Part II)
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
It reminds me of "How to train your Dragon" for some reason.
Eddie Sotto
Premium Member
Nothing comes to mind. I recall the CAVE type tests and so forth but I'm not aware of a ride other than the notion of doing software/changable projection type shows, but that's been tossed around forever.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
I wonder if "a catch all theme park that serves booze" is a better pitch than a "California based theme park in California".
Several years ago, Jim Hill did a great three part series where this is discussed. The specific "response to IOA" is in part 3, but I've linked to all 3 articles below:
Is DAK's Beastly Kingdom DOA? (Part 1)
Is DAK's Beastly Kingdom DOA? (Part 2)
Is DAK's Beastly Kingdom DOA? (Part 3)
Eddie Sotto
Premium Member
It's certainly fits Las Vegas and is a much better pitch. Good one.
Looking back, it was incredibly naive to think that you could keep tourists on property by getting them to go to DCA instead of leaving to see Hollywood or other places in California. It would be like building PEA (Pharoah's Egyptian Adventure) in Egypt, an hour from the real Pyramids and hoping they'd blow that off in favor of a fake Luxor style hotel.
Eddie Sotto
Premium Member
Jim Hill part 3
I read those articles and they are really interesting and basically what I recall.
Mission:Space happened because it brought it's own money from a sponsor. Don't recall the GMR redo.
Jim also asserts that Tony was inspired greatly by Knott's in the design of Splash and BTM. We all were. I was a designer there years ago. I know he loved Bud Hurlbut, the designer/builder of both the Mine and Log rides at Knotts. Not only are there inspirational nods to these rides in Big Thunder and Splash, but Indiana Jones uses the same shared space conceit that the Mine ride uses, so Hurlbut is also there in spirit. I worked on the planning of Indy and suggested the shared space concept.
I read those articles and they are really interesting and basically what I recall.
Mission:Space happened because it brought it's own money from a sponsor. Don't recall the GMR redo.
Jim also asserts that Tony was inspired greatly by Knott's in the design of Splash and BTM. We all were. I was a designer there years ago. I know he loved Bud Hurlbut, the designer/builder of both the Mine and Log rides at Knotts. Not only are there inspirational nods to these rides in Big Thunder and Splash, but Indiana Jones uses the same shared space conceit that the Mine ride uses, so Hurlbut is also there in spirit. I worked on the planning of Indy and suggested the shared space concept.
Wow, some pretty wild and bold architecture there! The Switzerland Pavilion is kinda hard on the eyes in the photograph. I would imagine it is different in person. The Sumitomo Fairy Tale Pavilion is really more of what a "Tomorrowland" should have in it (IMHO). Imagination is defintely a ripoff of the Bulgaria Pavilion. What is up with the U.S. Pavilion? Looks like a big empty field with a dome. The Wacoal-Riccar Pavilion looks a bit like a "Tomorrowland" area as well.
Did they get the idea for the Skyway ride from the Expo ropeway, I wonder?
They had a monorail as well, but I like Disney's design better. Disney's looks more futuristic and sleek, I think.
Thanks for the links!
Eddie Sotto
Premium Member
Especially for 1970. I love the design of that place. There is one good book on it called "Instant Future" lots of great pictures.
http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Futur...=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322008698&sr=1-3
Eddie Sotto
Premium Member
Mieders Alpine Coaster
A friend sent this to me today and it kind of blew my mind. A steel pipe coaster luge on a mountainside but this thing runs forever. the cost of building this must have been insane. You usually cannot afford speed for any length of time as you run out of money or track or land. This ride must have beat up the rider as it is all three. I could only think of my eyes watering for minutes as the wind ripped my face. It's long, fast, and scary. Watch it. An E ticket for sure!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqCkICXWdWI&feature=player_embedded
A friend sent this to me today and it kind of blew my mind. A steel pipe coaster luge on a mountainside but this thing runs forever. the cost of building this must have been insane. You usually cannot afford speed for any length of time as you run out of money or track or land. This ride must have beat up the rider as it is all three. I could only think of my eyes watering for minutes as the wind ripped my face. It's long, fast, and scary. Watch it. An E ticket for sure!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqCkICXWdWI&feature=player_embedded
Eddie Sotto
Premium Member
Years ago I was invited to Austria to give a lecture to an elite group of Ski Resort owners as to how to improve their summer business. I'm embarrassed to say that I did not suggest an Alpine Coaster. To me, the cost of building that much rail against the limited capacity would never "pencil out". I guess they do as Kevin has seen more than one. They were looking for other ways to sell summer for the Alps, their collective "brand", and so it was still productive. At WDI we developed and tested a "luge" type single rail mini attraction for a project I was working on, as the center of gravity is low and gives the illusion of great speed, but it was never built. The experience was really good as you can tell in the video. Single rider experiences are a hard sell in a big park as the capacity is so limited, but it can be done.
If you read German there's something about it here..
http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/...re-mountain-so-sieht-der-neue-berg-urlaub-aus
If you read German there's something about it here..
http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/...re-mountain-so-sieht-der-neue-berg-urlaub-aus
dagobert
Active Member
This is my first post here, but I've read this thread for quite a long time now, since I'm a big Disneyland Paris fan. I have been there five times and once to WDW.
Mr. Sotto, thanks a lot for all the insights you are giving, especially on Disneyland Paris.
I live in Austria, but I've never heard of those Alpine Coasters. They look like a lot of fun. Maybe next summer I have to try one.
I think it's amazing that you have been invited to Austria to give a lecture, since I'm pretty sure that most people over here don't know WDI. That lecture must have been very interesting.
Mr. Sotto, thanks a lot for all the insights you are giving, especially on Disneyland Paris.
I live in Austria, but I've never heard of those Alpine Coasters. They look like a lot of fun. Maybe next summer I have to try one.
I think it's amazing that you have been invited to Austria to give a lecture, since I'm pretty sure that most people over here don't know WDI. That lecture must have been very interesting.
E? I'd give this an F ticket!! What a scary as all get out ride this would be. Going under playground equipment, bridges, etc. No protection if this thing malfunctioned or a part of the track gave way. I wonder what the true speed of the rider is on this? Do they have more than one on the track at the same time? Some of that terrain was pretty rugged as well, so if there was a problem, it might be awhile before someone could get help. For the most part, it looks like it follows the ski lift, but in parts, it's also remote. Wow!
Eddie Sotto
Premium Member
I was thinking some of the same things. It does not seem to have fences to keep anyone away from tampering with the track or riders either. I just think of the effort it takes to lay track on a mountainside and get the material up there and bend it, etc. the curves do not seem to be very engineered or banked, so the G forces must be pretty harsh.
Eddie Sotto
Premium Member
Wow. My wife and I love Austria, especially Vienna. My hosts for the conference were incredibly nice and stayed in a very nice hotel in the Ski Resort of Solden. It was great to get educated by the hotel owners about what good Schnapps is. They even sprayed it in my hotel room as air freshener! It was a lecture and 3 hours of brainstorming with the Resort owners. The Alps are a gift to them and it's easy to take that for granted. So coming from another perspective was helpful, according to them. If I had not had 5 Red Bulls, I would have collapsed. Austrians were very kind to me and made me feel the hospitality they are world famous for. It's great that you like DLP, we had a wonderful time working on it and evidently it is appreciated!
dagobert
Active Member
I'm glad you and your wife enjoyed your stays in Austria. Vienna is indeed a wonderful city, maybe a little bit small compared to US cities.
We are famous for Schnapps and it's a big part of the so called "Apres Ski" culture.
Your work is appreciated, even in a small country like Austria where most people don't know a lot about Disneyland Paris. There is hardly any advertising of the resort and many still call it Euro Disney.
Disneyland Paris is the most beautiful Magic Kingdom park in the world, although I have to say that there have been some bad decisions in recent years, like putting Buzz Lightyear into Discoveryland. It ruined the whole theme in that part of Discoveryland.
Mr. Sotto, since you have been responsible for Main Street USA, you might be interested to hear that Disney changed the mural of the Thunder Mesa Riverboats on Town Square: http://twitpic.com/75y1ba
The Alpine Coaster in the video has a length of 2.8 km and a maximum speed of 42 km/h.
http://www.serlesbahnen.at/ (sorry only in German. Under the menu "Sommerrodelbahn" you can find some informations and pictures about the Alpine Coaster)
Eddie Sotto
Premium Member
Words from Hench
Here's a excerpted passage from the John Hench article I posted a few pages back.
The essential message of Disneyland, Hench says as we walk back toward Main Street, is that “there is nothing to fear.”
In a properly ordered environment, he continues, the message is wholly accurate. “Look how people who live in cities have to go somewhere in the country for vacation, and when that sense of natural order creeps back into their veins, they are quite different people. They talk to each other. When the birds are singing and there are green trees and the sun is coming down, they start to feel open and alive again. In the cities, we’re threatened. We don’t talk to people, we don’t believe everything we hear, we don’t look people in the eye – the whole thing is anti-survival. We don’t trust people. We find ourselves alone. If we keep pulling these blinds down and cutting ourselves off, we die a little bit. I think that explains even those brutal pictures like Jaws. People go in there and it scares the hell out of them, and they walk out thinking, ‘My God, I felt something. I’m alive after all.’ They get an exuberance out of discovering that they’re not dead, that they’re feeling things, and maybe they’ve been in some kind of humdrum thing where they haven’t felt anything like that for years.”
In the frightening world we now find ourselves living in, this reflection on the reassurance of Main Street and Disneyland is even more dramatic. It's no wonder that despite the burned out light bulbs and broken Yetis, people are still flocking to the Magic Kingdoms.
Full article thanks to Michael Crawford.
http://progresscityusa.com/2011/11/08/hench-on-hench/comment-page-1/#comment-129770
Here's a excerpted passage from the John Hench article I posted a few pages back.
The essential message of Disneyland, Hench says as we walk back toward Main Street, is that “there is nothing to fear.”
In a properly ordered environment, he continues, the message is wholly accurate. “Look how people who live in cities have to go somewhere in the country for vacation, and when that sense of natural order creeps back into their veins, they are quite different people. They talk to each other. When the birds are singing and there are green trees and the sun is coming down, they start to feel open and alive again. In the cities, we’re threatened. We don’t talk to people, we don’t believe everything we hear, we don’t look people in the eye – the whole thing is anti-survival. We don’t trust people. We find ourselves alone. If we keep pulling these blinds down and cutting ourselves off, we die a little bit. I think that explains even those brutal pictures like Jaws. People go in there and it scares the hell out of them, and they walk out thinking, ‘My God, I felt something. I’m alive after all.’ They get an exuberance out of discovering that they’re not dead, that they’re feeling things, and maybe they’ve been in some kind of humdrum thing where they haven’t felt anything like that for years.”
In the frightening world we now find ourselves living in, this reflection on the reassurance of Main Street and Disneyland is even more dramatic. It's no wonder that despite the burned out light bulbs and broken Yetis, people are still flocking to the Magic Kingdoms.
Full article thanks to Michael Crawford.
http://progresscityusa.com/2011/11/08/hench-on-hench/comment-page-1/#comment-129770
Eddie Sotto
Premium Member
Another Alpine Coaster
Kevin Yee got me interested in finding some other examples of Alpine type gravity coasters. Here's a tamer looking one.
/www.parkcitymountain.com/summer/summer-activities/alpine-coaster
Kevin Yee got me interested in finding some other examples of Alpine type gravity coasters. Here's a tamer looking one.
/www.parkcitymountain.com/summer/summer-activities/alpine-coaster
dagobert
Active Member
I've already answered your post, but it seems it didn't work. So I'll try it again.
I'm glad you and your wife enjoyed your trip to Austria. Vienna is indeed a wonderful city.
Austria is famous for its Schnapps, especially in the Apres Ski culture, but you shouldn't drink too much.
Your work on Disneyland Paris is appreciated. I tried to get all Imagineering books about the European park. Since you were responsible for building Main Street, you might want to know that Disney changed the Thunder Mesa Riverboat Mural on Town Square: http://twitpic.com/75y1ba
Disneyland Paris is still a very beautiful park, but in recent years there have been some bad decisions like replacing Le Visionarium with Buzz Lightyear.
I found some informations about the Alpine Coaster. The coaster is 2.8 km long and maximum speed is 42 km/h.
http://www.serlesbahnen.at/ (It's only in German, but under "Sommerrodelbahn" you will find some pictures and informations)
ChrisFL
Premium Member
Eddie...its rare that I find an attraction video that rivals the ride tech of Disney or Universal, but I remembered one I saw from theme park review on their visit to Japan.
Luckily there's a better video of it on youtube now (although sadly the attraction is now closed)....
There's some rumor that this ride system was "planned for EPCOT Center" but never used although I doubt it.
Still, its one of the most incredible (and chock full of Japanese weirdness) rides I've ever seen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3D4tK-Ci64
Luckily there's a better video of it on youtube now (although sadly the attraction is now closed)....
There's some rumor that this ride system was "planned for EPCOT Center" but never used although I doubt it.
Still, its one of the most incredible (and chock full of Japanese weirdness) rides I've ever seen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3D4tK-Ci64