Eddie Sotto's take on the current state of the parks

[Master Yoda]

 

[Monorail_Orange]

^^^^
:ROFLOL::ROFLOL::ROFLOL:
Please pardon the momentary thread hijack, Eddie.

BTW, thank you for all of your insight that you share on here. It's amazing to hear how an imagineer looks at all the different aspects that make up a park, attraction, etc.

 

[PhilharMagician]

I've never told this story before, so here goes. This thread gets only the insiders take.

You've seen the UFO DLP images here, so here's what REALLY happened.

http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/

We were on the roof of Walt's Restaurant taking pictures to verify sightline issues to the other lands, when this strange whirring sound overcame us. In my viewfinder there was a blur and before i knew it this dish was above us. We scattered to the edge of the facade parapet and on that flat roof, the ship landed with no sound, no heat, nothing. It just set itself down and the building lurched a bit. Scary. We were all kind of in shock. I dropped my camera. Costly reaction.

A door revealed itself from the smooth matte finish of the metallic ship and a voice came from the opening. "Take me to your director of corporate synergy". They WERE of higher intelligence. "We come in peace and with a gift, and will give it if we answer one question" the voice rasped. We nodded.

"Where are we?"

"Main Street USA" we all replied in unison.

"Merci...we made it to America" the voice replied.

Another Imagineer piped up and asked what the gift was. A 2 by 2 foot silver box then levitated through the doorway and landed at our feet. "Something you don't have in your kingdom, but will need very much for these earthlings".

Before we could go further, Security burst onto the roof. This scared the Aliens. The door shut in an instant and the craft shot back into the clouds.

We were left wondering if what we had seen actually happened. But there was the box.

Security opened it. It was a case of Red Wine (Shatner 67). To avoid a messy explanation to Security, we explained it was brought in for a special opening night occasion. It was served to Michael Eisner at Walt's later than night and he decided that the park should serve wine. The empty Bottle still sets on the mantle in the Discoveryland room upstairs.

i wish the Aliens had brought cash for new attractions, I would have passed on the wine.

You heard it here first.

All I can say is :dazzle:


"and that is why they are called Imagineers"

 

[DougK]

I've never told this story before, so here goes. This thread gets only the insiders take.

You've seen the UFO DLP images here, so here's what REALLY happened.

http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/

We were on the roof of Walt's Restaurant taking pictures to verify sightline issues to the other lands, when this strange whirring sound overcame us. In my viewfinder there was a blur and before i knew it this dish was above us. We scattered to the edge of the facade parapet and on that flat roof, the ship landed with no sound, no heat, nothing. It just set itself down and the building lurched a bit. Scary. We were all kind of in shock. I dropped my camera. Costly reaction.

A door revealed itself from the smooth matte finish of the metallic ship and a voice came from the opening. "Take me to your director of corporate synergy". They WERE of higher intelligence. "We come in peace and with a gift, and will give it if we answer one question" the voice rasped. We nodded.

"Where are we?"

"Main Street USA" we all replied in unison.

"Merci...we made it to America" the voice replied.

Another Imagineer piped up and asked what the gift was. A 2 by 2 foot silver box then levitated through the doorway and landed at our feet. "Something you don't have in your kingdom, but will need very much for these earthlings".

Before we could go further, Security burst onto the roof. This scared the Aliens. The door shut in an instant and the craft shot back into the clouds.

We were left wondering if what we had seen actually happened. But there was the box.

Security opened it. It was a case of Red Wine (Shatner 67). To avoid a messy explanation to Security, we explained it was brought in for a special opening night occasion. It was served to Michael Eisner at Walt's later than night and he decided that the park should serve wine. The empty Bottle still sets on the mantle in the Discoveryland room upstairs.

i wish the Aliens had brought cash for new attractions, I would have passed on the wine.

You heard it here first.

Nice April Fools Day story Eddie, thank you! I especially enjoyed Shatner 67!

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Rolly Crump, Disney and Knott's legend.

There is an interesting interview with Imagineer and "Knott's Bear-y Tales" designer Rolly Crump and "Knott's Preserved" author Chris Merritt on Miceage today.

http://www.yesterland.com/bearytales.html

He gives lots of insight to how he designed that ride At Knott's. Some of the typical trials we all have are described in his tale of how the ride came about. One noteworthy aspect of that ride was how they mixed black light scenes with incandescent ones. I was inspired by how successful this was when developing the blustery day scene for "Pooh's Hunny Hunt" at TDL and did the same thing! Thanks to Rolly! We are all inspired by the things we see, and instead of just copying them we can hopefully infuse those ideas into something even more interesting.

BTW-
Special treat...Chris Merritt, did a great map of the ride (a la Sam McKim) that you can download too! Read to the end!

 

[HMF]

Hi Eddie people are again talking about your Tom Sawyer Island project.
http://micechat.com/forums/disneyla...quel-time-unrelenting-106.html#post1055911357

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Hi Eddie people are again talking about your Tom Sawyer Island project.
http://micechat.com/forums/disneyla...quel-time-unrelenting-106.html#post1055911357

Thanks for sharing, interesting. The "Bone Chapels" that are shown are news to me, but incredible nonetheless. My inspiration for the walls of bones, etc was touring "Le Empire de la Mort" the Catacombs of Paris, where they had not used them in worship, but as a relocated grave for the remains of those who died in the Revolution. so the notion of showing respect for the fallen crews of other ships in a linear tunnel seemed appropriate storytelling.

 

[HMF]

Was that actually your drawing or did someone else do it at your direction?

 

[Eddie Sotto]

The inspiration.

Was that actually your drawing or did someone else do it at your direction?

Yes, that is my drawing. It was done as a series in my personal sketchbook on vacation in Hawaii. There were others depicting the capsized ship hideout, Cannons, etc. It was just a fun story at first, then it kind of became "attraction art" after I got back. I was reading the earliest known book about the exploits of Pirates ("A Pirate's own Book") and was inspired in that direction. The memoirs of Jean Lafitte are really great too.


If you want to get inspired as well, here's the link to the book.

http://www.amazon.com/Pirates-Own-Book-Narratives-Celebrated/dp/0486276074

 

[HMF]

Eddie' knowing how you worked on the 1994 DL Adventureland re-do. Was the current BGM track added in 94 or was that from earlier? Never mind I just found out it was around 1999-2000.

 

[misterID]

Eddie, sorry if you answered this before, but I know you worked on 3 versions of the Indy ride, was one of those versions the fabled mine car through the temple? I was just reading about Indy and The Lost Expedition and the description was incredible.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Eddie, sorry if you answered this before, but I know you worked on 3 versions of the Indy ride, was one of those versions the fabled mine car through the temple? I was just reading about Indy and The Lost Expedition and the description was incredible.

Yes I did. It was a ride on the Jungle Cruise to a remote dock and Temple, you got off the boat, then you form search parties to hunt for Indy. A treacherous "walk through" begins and your guide vanishes, leaving you at the mercy of the grave robbers. You escape in a rickety mine car in a half forward, half backward facing coaster ride through the fiery temple, climaxed by the rolling ball chasing you out to civilization. I was assigned to that show 3 times.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Eddie' knowing how you worked on the 1994 DL Adventureland re-do. Was the current BGM track added in 94 or was that from earlier? Never mind I just found out it was around 1999-2000.

The BGM for the Jungle Cruise dock was something I worked on so it came at that time. The era and story was redefined to compliment Indy. Swing Era late 30's 40's stuff as an old broadcast. I'm not aware of an overall land BGM.

 

[mickey2008.1]

Eddie, first time replier on this thread. I have got to say this is so interesting and i love reading the info you post. Thanks for being here and informing us on all the lost things and things you worked on. Very insightful. BTW, your menu looks great, open a restaurant on wdw property, and this is coming from a chef /owner.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Eddie, first time replier on this thread. I have got to say this is so interesting and i love reading the info you post. Thanks for being here and informing us on all the lost things and things you worked on. Very insightful. BTW, your menu looks great, open a restaurant on wdw property, and this is coming from a chef /owner.

Thank you for such kind words, hope to see you at Rivera one day. I'd love to do my own Restaurant concept on property, Rivera would be great in South Beach Miami. There are some concepts I'd love to develop and roll out. We've been fortunate to be so successful in spite of the economy. John Sedlar is a great chef.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Disney and More...

After 3 great years, Alain Littaye is not going to continue "Disney and More", a blogspot that has given us more interesting posts per capita than any other. Alain did not lower himself to the politics and name calling that some blogs and sites tread on, instead he chose to dwell on the future and the exciting things that never happened or will come soon. He made us all feel excited about Disney and more! I have linked there many times as he has the best info and images, and I think in his final week he's posting one last interview I did on "Main Street and the DLP that never was". Alain and Dider Ghez took ten years to write the best book on DLP as well. If you don't have a copy, buy it! They are the true torch bearers of DLP and we are forever grateful for their fine work. We wish Alain well and if you have not gotten to his blog, check it out. He is truly a Disney Internet Legend!

Merci Beaucoups Alain! We 'll miss you!

 

[Bork Bork]

That is indeed sad news. I love Alain's blog. And I appreciate your taking the time here as always Eddie!

 

[ClemsonTigger]

After 3 great years, Alain Littaye is not going to continue "Disney and More", a blogspot that has given us more interesting posts per capita than any other. Alain did not lower himself to the politics and name calling that some blogs and sites tread on, instead he chose to dwell on the future and the exciting things that never happened or will come soon. He made us all feel excited about Disney and more! I have linked there many times as he has the best info and images, and I think in his final week he's posting one last interview I did on "Main Street and the DLP that never was". Alain and Dider Ghez took ten years to write the best book on DLP as well. If you don't have a copy, buy it! They are the true torch bearers of DLP and we are forever grateful for their fine work. We wish Alain well and if you have not gotten to his blog, check it out. He is truly a Disney Internet Legend!

Merci Beaucoups Alain! We 'll miss you!

Agreed with your comments on Alain. As for his book, I'd put off ordering it for too long....there used to be a link at MiceChat with order information that is no longer there, would you happen to be able to point me in the right direction? Thanks much!

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Agreed with your comments on Alain. As for his book, I'd put off ordering it for too long....there used to be a link at MiceChat with order information that is no longer there, would you happen to be able to point me in the right direction? Thanks much!

Here's the article buy from him directly if you can.

http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2009/12/looking-for-great-disney-gift-for.html

 

[misterID]

Yes I did. It was a ride on the Jungle Cruise to a remote dock and Temple, you got off the boat, then you form search parties to hunt for Indy. A treacherous "walk through" begins and your guide vanishes, leaving you at the mercy of the grave robbers. You escape in a rickety mine car in a half forward, half backward facing coaster ride through the fiery temple, climaxed by the rolling ball chasing you out to civilization. I was assigned to that show 3 times.

Oh man. Was this going to feature AA's or strictly a more coaster style ride?

I'd love to do my own Restaurant concept on property, Rivera would be great in South Beach Miami. There are some concepts I'd love to develop and roll out. We've been fortunate to be so successful in spite of the economy. John Sedlar is a great chef.

Rivera's style, even its menu, totally strikes me as a South Beach restaurant. Its the first thought I had when I looked at it. Would you bring it to Miami, or would you build something new there?