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

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fractal

Well-Known Member
I'm hijacking the thread to point the spotlight on the effect themed "fantasy worlds" have on some people. Disneyland is the place where the thing you saw on TV and wished was real is just that. The castle is not a set, it's something to explore.

Well, to this family "The Munster's" was their Castle and they had to live in it, so they built their own MUNSTER MANSION. I just love how someone would go this far, despite the execution. Just a bit of a detour, and a lesson on the effect your themed environments can have on guests.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFioUuEJFjs

That's really cool - thanks for sharing!

I've been reading the articles on Disneyandmore blog. Really great stuff - I'll have to try the Latin restaurant "Rivera" when I go to Cali next Spring. Looks awesome.
 

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
Interesting site on new ideas.

I'm always on the prowl for what's next. A favorite site to share with those of you who like to see fresh new business and tech ideas is Springwise. There are many categories to choose from. I linked entertainment, To me, this in some ways is "Innoventions Online".

Speaking of that, is it not surprising that some form of EPCOT does not yet live online as a open community of the world's best innovation and ideas? Like a version of the groundbreaking TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) Conference (TED.com). It's almost unthinkable for something that claims as it's foundation to be so forward looking not have a thriving and meaningful presence online. That idea has been discussed as far back as when I was there, but there is yet to be something online besides nominal informational offerings. Was that a rant? Sorry. Your thoughts?

Till then, we can read about other cool ideas. Like this!

http://springwise.com/entertainment/
 

Vernonpush

Well-Known Member
One of the video's I carry around on my phone is of Futuro, a modular home of the future. It just makes me smile. I'd love to own one of these 1970's prefab "Orbs" that is closer to a "Mentos" pill than great design, but I'd love it just the same. Such optimism!

http://weburbanist.com/2010/01/10/the-futuro-house-space-age-architecture-comes-home/

http://www.berting.nl/futuro/

You just missed the last one for sale..

http://www.angelfire.com/home/futurohouse/sandiego1.html

http://greg.org/archive/2009/05/19/for_sale_crazy_finnish_futuro_house.html

Eddie Sotto soooo wants one of these. How cool would it be to fix one of these bad boys up and drop it on some cheap piece of desert on the way to Vegas? I still have a couple of them Lava Lamps from Encounter for the interior, so we're off to the races. We'd do some kind of "roadside alien museum" or coffee stop for drowsy drunks so it made a few bucks in the off season. I just know I want to go Futuro!

The book has a DVD with acid visuals in Finnish. Before Nokia there was Futuro.

http://www.arcspace.com/books/tomorrows_house/

(Woah. I just realized we're almost to half a million views on this thread!)

Let's not forget Xanadu: Home of the Future (near WDW):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQOHVOduYX8

And then what became of it (part 1 of 5):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNl21ZX84-4
 

MiklCraw4d

Member
One of the video's I carry around on my phone is of Futuro, a modular home of the future. It just makes me smile. I'd love to own one of these 1970's prefab "Orbs" that is closer to a "Mentos" pill than great design, but I'd love it just the same. Such optimism!
I LOVE THOSE! I so want one too. There are so many possibilities. I have some pictures of a model for a "children's pavilion" that Rolly Crump's group did for EPCOT - I think Scott Hennessey did it, but don't quote me on that. Anyway, its centerpiece looks JUST like one of these Futuro homes and was the very first thing I thought of when I saw the pics.
 

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
Let's not forget Xanadu: Home of the Future (near WDW):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQOHVOduYX8

And then what became of it (part 1 of 5):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNl21ZX84-4

Woah. Never seen this before. The concept art must have been amazing. Can't decide to laugh or cry. The future can be interpreted so many ways and I'm glad they were wrong. You think the folks who built the Munster Mansion are the target audience? Reminds me of a folk art giant wasp nest or the desert house Luke Skywalker lived in. It's sincere but kinda drools. It may be more interesting as the deserted ghost of itself as you can imagine it was better than it really was. I can see Heston running around in a loin cloth yelling "Damn dirty Apes!".

Thanks for posting this, I had no idea. Great stuff.
 

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
I LOVE THOSE! I so want one too. There are so many possibilities. I have some pictures of a model for a "children's pavilion" that Rolly Crump's group did for EPCOT - I think Scott Hennessey did it, but don't quote me on that. Anyway, its centerpiece looks JUST like one of these Futuro homes and was the very first thing I thought of when I saw the pics.

I'll see if I can post the finnish video, it's really cool.

Dreaming of the Orb... Opal pearl white exterior with pale bronze tinted windows and eggplant ultra suede on white interior. Copper colored carpet and moonroof. It sits atop a crater shaped grassy knoll with an uplight under it in the Caldera. (yeah right)
 
Hi Eddie, I have a question I hope you can help with!

I recently found out that during the design of California Adventure, Imagineering hired an outside company, Karma Creative (now World Creative Supply), to name a large number of the attractions shops and restaurants that appeared in the park (their website lists such names as Paradise Pier, Burger Invasion, San Joaquin Volley, The Souvenir Itch, Taste Pilots’ Grill, Maliburritos, S.S. rusthworthy and lots more). I certainly realise that coming up with effective nomenclature requires an aptitude and flair for language, but I would have thought the Imagineers possessed those skills in-house.

Essentially, it’s got me interested in where the names in the park come from. Is (or was) it a common practice at Imagineering to outsource this role, or is it more generally done by the Imagineers (I do know in one particular case with Animal Kingdom it was the show writer that come up with ‘Beastlie Kingdomme’, and specifically insisted on the spelling as it was historically accurate to the style of medieval England). I also suspect it will be the marketing department that have a huge influence on names (especially with murmurings that Cars Land took that name over Radiator Springs or Route 66 because it would be easier to communicate through commercials what was being presented), is this right?

I’m also interested in your own personal involvement in nomenclature. Did you come up with Pooh’s Hunny Hunt, Sci-fi City, Cybermid, or any of the other project names you worked on? What do you think makes a good attraction name, and are there any techniques Imagineering uses to find them? I imagine it’s a lot of brainstorming, but I wonder who holds the final say, and what sort of things need to be communicated in the name.

And for anyone else, I’d love to hear which attraction names people like best (it’s an area that I really don’t think gets much thought!). Personally, my favourite attraction names are Space Mountain: De la Terre a la Lune (perfectly combing the imposing ‘Space Mountain’ with the wonderfully elegant ‘from the Earth to the Moon’), Countdown to Extinction (has any other ride name conjured up so much tension?!), and even the simple yet massively evocative Pirates of the Caribbean – straight to the point, but what more else needs to be said.
 

flavious27

Well-Known Member
3600 replies? This has to be one of the most commented forums here.

When Eddie mentions in his Tomorrowland section about buildings that can sense your presence, I think about how the whole park experience could be like that. Imagine the whole park sensing your presence and customizing and enhancing your trip. This is doable with today's technology though it will cost money to implement, the payoff will be making your trip that much better than anything else out there.

Most if not all trips booked to Disney are on their website. Why not have custom profiles made after you book your trip. You will include your top 3 or 5 attractions for each park, a selection of say 7 sit-down restaurants that you would eat at on a moments notice, your favorite 3 disney movies, and you pick a disney theme (like wonder, magic, or dreams). Also you will include your name, age, cell phone number that can receive txt messages, and your e-mail addresses; you also will be able to link your profile to friends and family that will be at the parks the same time you are.

When you check in and given your key to the world, your key to the world will have a rfid chip that has a link to your profile on it. Your key to the world will really be your key to the world.

After entering a park and you will receive a txt message with the wait times of your favorite rides in the park; if the current time-frame for fastpasses being distributed is less than an hour, you will have a link to a mobile app that can book you into that fastpass window. Also, with fast pass, you will either tap the machines with your card or walk through a cattle chute with the system acknowledging your time and name to you.

When you enter the ride vehicle, it will check you into a couple different systems. If you used fastpass, it will "take your fastpass ticket". If the ride is one of your favorites it will mark it off your favorites list and you will not be alerted to additional fastpass openings until after you have ridden other favorites. To keep track of teenagers and or make it easier to setup a rendezvous point, the system can alert your party that you are currently on this ride. While waiting for your ride, your theme's music can start to play. If the ride that you are on is equipped with on ride cameras, the ride vehicle will save that picture into the profile for everyone in your ride vehicle. Also, on a spooky ride like Haunted Mansion, the ride can readout your name in your ride vehicle.

If during the day one of your favorite sit-down restaurant suddenly has an opening, you will receive a txt message and a link to make a reservation. If you made a reservation either prior to your visit or at the hotel, a link can be sent an hour before to remind you of your reservation; a mobile app can also take your drink and or appetizer orders, so that they are ready when you get to the restaurant. With your profile you could have the option to list any food allergies and or dietary requirements. This will enable the wait staff and kitchen design a menu to meet your needs; the menu can be printed and waiting for you.

While walking through the park, the system can start playing songs from your theme unless either it is crowded or will clash with the theme. The same can be done with the monorails, your theme's songs will start to play. To give a more personal touch, certain CMs will have your name read to a blue-tooth headset when you walk up to them. This technology can also welcome you to a park by announcing your name. When your picture is taken with the photopass people, the pictures are added to your profile. CMs could also videotape guests on the different main streets in the parks, and guests can create videocards to send to their family back at home. Also, some resorts on property will allow guests to access a slideshow on their in-room tvs that will have the pictures taken so far on their trip.

This kind of initiative would involve many systems being updated and created. Ride vehicles would need to be updated with workstations installed with rfid readers and wifi nics to communicate to the on-ride cameras and or a workstation controlling them. Photopass employees would need to have cameras connected to a mobile device that can read the rfid chip and also transmit the tagged photos to the network. The queue areas would need to have multiple workstations equipped with rfid readers, access to a multimedia server and connected to to one or two speakers. The same would be needed for the monorails and along paths throughout wdw. The resorts that will allow access to display slideshows will need to have the function to access the pictures built into the rooms' tvs. The fastpass system would need to be updated. Though the function to access and make reservations should already be part of the reservations system at wdw, it needs to be reworked to work in this way. Then Disney will need to develop multiple apps and test market them before putting them onto the market or in the store for download.
 

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
But you should be!

(That being said, I've never seen Light in the Forest... it doesn't seem to be on DVD...)

I could not find it either. Now that you are "in" with all those at the WDFM, why not suggest a MacArthur tribute screening of his films? They just did the SFR. I'd like to see Third Man OTM, Light in the Forest, Kidnapped, etc.
 

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
3600 replies? This has to be one of the most commented forums here.

When Eddie mentions in his Tomorrowland section about buildings that can sense your presence, I think about how the whole park experience could be like that. Imagine the whole park sensing your presence and customizing and enhancing your trip. This is doable with today's technology though it will cost money to implement, the payoff will be making your trip that much better than anything else out there.

Most if not all trips booked to Disney are on their website. Why not have custom profiles made after you book your trip. You will include your top 3 or 5 attractions for each park, a selection of say 7 sit-down restaurants that you would eat at on a moments notice, your favorite 3 disney movies, and you pick a disney theme (like wonder, magic, or dreams). Also you will include your name, age, cell phone number that can receive txt messages, and your e-mail addresses; you also will be able to link your profile to friends and family that will be at the parks the same time you are.

When you check in and given your key to the world, your key to the world will have a rfid chip that has a link to your profile on it. Your key to the world will really be your key to the world.

After entering a park and you will receive a txt message with the wait times of your favorite rides in the park; if the current time-frame for fastpasses being distributed is less than an hour, you will have a link to a mobile app that can book you into that fastpass window. Also, with fast pass, you will either tap the machines with your card or walk through a cattle chute with the system acknowledging your time and name to you.

When you enter the ride vehicle, it will check you into a couple different systems. If you used fastpass, it will "take your fastpass ticket". If the ride is one of your favorites it will mark it off your favorites list and you will not be alerted to additional fastpass openings until after you have ridden other favorites. To keep track of teenagers and or make it easier to setup a rendezvous point, the system can alert your party that you are currently on this ride. While waiting for your ride, your theme's music can start to play. If the ride that you are on is equipped with on ride cameras, the ride vehicle will save that picture into the profile for everyone in your ride vehicle. Also, on a spooky ride like Haunted Mansion, the ride can readout your name in your ride vehicle.

If during the day one of your favorite sit-down restaurant suddenly has an opening, you will receive a txt message and a link to make a reservation. If you made a reservation either prior to your visit or at the hotel, a link can be sent an hour before to remind you of your reservation; a mobile app can also take your drink and or appetizer orders, so that they are ready when you get to the restaurant. With your profile you could have the option to list any food allergies and or dietary requirements. This will enable the wait staff and kitchen design a menu to meet your needs; the menu can be printed and waiting for you.

While walking through the park, the system can start playing songs from your theme unless either it is crowded or will clash with the theme. The same can be done with the monorails, your theme's songs will start to play. To give a more personal touch, certain CMs will have your name read to a blue-tooth headset when you walk up to them. This technology can also welcome you to a park by announcing your name. When your picture is taken with the photopass people, the pictures are added to your profile. CMs could also videotape guests on the different main streets in the parks, and guests can create videocards to send to their family back at home. Also, some resorts on property will allow guests to access a slideshow on their in-room tvs that will have the pictures taken so far on their trip.

This kind of initiative would involve many systems being updated and created. Ride vehicles would need to be updated with workstations installed with rfid readers and wifi nics to communicate to the on-ride cameras and or a workstation controlling them. Photopass employees would need to have cameras connected to a mobile device that can read the rfid chip and also transmit the tagged photos to the network. The queue areas would need to have multiple workstations equipped with rfid readers, access to a multimedia server and connected to to one or two speakers. The same would be needed for the monorails and along paths throughout wdw. The resorts that will allow access to display slideshows will need to have the function to access the pictures built into the rooms' tvs. The fastpass system would need to be updated. Though the function to access and make reservations should already be part of the reservations system at wdw, it needs to be reworked to work in this way. Then Disney will need to develop multiple apps and test market them before putting them onto the market or in the store for download.

All great thoughts and right on. Most all of your suggestions in one form or another are being considered, tested, or perhaps even being implemented in the "Next Gen" program at WDI. My previous tech company (Progress City) was hired several times over the years to look into things like this for them.they look at the whole experience, from online to reservations to customer relationship management. The entertainment piece is just a small part of how they think. You should be working on this kind of thing as your mind is pre wired for it!
 

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
Hi Eddie, I have a question I hope you can help with!

I recently found out that during the design of California Adventure, Imagineering hired an outside company, Karma Creative (now World Creative Supply), to name a large number of the attractions shops and restaurants that appeared in the park (their website lists such names as Paradise Pier, Burger Invasion, San Joaquin Volley, The Souvenir Itch, Taste Pilots’ Grill, Maliburritos, S.S. rusthworthy and lots more). I certainly realise that coming up with effective nomenclature requires an aptitude and flair for language, but I would have thought the Imagineers possessed those skills in-house.

Essentially, it’s got me interested in where the names in the park come from. Is (or was) it a common practice at Imagineering to outsource this role, or is it more generally done by the Imagineers (I do know in one particular case with Animal Kingdom it was the show writer that come up with ‘Beastlie Kingdomme’, and specifically insisted on the spelling as it was historically accurate to the style of medieval England). I also suspect it will be the marketing department that have a huge influence on names (especially with murmurings that Cars Land took that name over Radiator Springs or Route 66 because it would be easier to communicate through commercials what was being presented), is this right?

I’m also interested in your own personal involvement in nomenclature. Did you come up with Pooh’s Hunny Hunt, Sci-fi City, Cybermid, or any of the other project names you worked on? What do you think makes a good attraction name, and are there any techniques Imagineering uses to find them? I imagine it’s a lot of brainstorming, but I wonder who holds the final say, and what sort of things need to be communicated in the name.

And for anyone else, I’d love to hear which attraction names people like best (it’s an area that I really don’t think gets much thought!). Personally, my favourite attraction names are Space Mountain: De la Terre a la Lune (perfectly combing the imposing ‘Space Mountain’ with the wonderfully elegant ‘from the Earth to the Moon’), Countdown to Extinction (has any other ride name conjured up so much tension?!), and even the simple yet massively evocative Pirates of the Caribbean – straight to the point, but what more else needs to be said.

Good questions. First off there are (or maybe were) individuals in a department called "Show Writing" that would be tasked with the suggestion of names or nomenclature. Basically everything in a script, down to a sign or menu. When I was there none of this was outsourced and it was done in house. They would also have to get names legally cleared for use. I like to come up with names so in many cases I suggested them or pushed for them on my own projects. The creative team would internally discuss and suggest alternatives as well. "Sci-Fi City", "Cybermyd", "Rocket Bikes", "Casey's Corner" and many of the fictional names of the windows at DLP Main Street I wrote or turned in.

One time I was accused of inserting my first name into the park. There were bronze logo medallions all over the Euro Disneyland RR station and they were an interlocking EDRR design. Operations saw these installed and called me on the carpet and were quite angry saying "Ed Sotto! You have plastered the station with the "Ed" Railroad and demand an explanation! I told them of course, that it was a coincidence that the park's initials were Euro Disney and logos of interlocking initials were typical of railroads of that period like the B&O. etc. AND it was all approved from above. To add to that, "If they have a problem with my designs they should first go rip out all of the logos that are "plastered" all over 3 Big Thunder Mountains, as those initials in those interlocking logos are TBM (in order of letter size) or Tony Baxter Mountain!" That ended that. They are still there today although the name of the attraction changed (DL RR) so I guess they are my initials?

So much for naming stuff yourself as you run the risk of critique. We do bury birthdates of team members in some minor signage as well. Our dates of birth are on the builders plates of the DLP Steam Trains for example. Very subtle and a tribute to those who designed the graphics. No one cares about that so much.

I spent alot of time on working titles as when you pitch a new idea, the working title has a tendency to stick, and if it's good it helps the pitch. "Dragon's Lair" was for a talking dragon in the Castle, etc. The management can see it being marketable from the outset. The marketing folks do chime in on the name and have alot to say about it. At the time, Eisner would pass judgement as well. Tony wanted "Zip a Dee Do Dah" and Eisner instead decided to call it "Splash Mountain" to identify it with the other "mountains" of the park.

Look how "Countdown to Extinction" became "Dinosaur". Making it more obvious to the guest and a movie tie in.

You need to imagine the guest actually saying the name you are thinking of. How will it wear over time? Will "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye" become "Indy" to them? Think of what it can get shortened to. On the signage "Indiana Jones" was the headline and the subtitle was smaller but important as it conveyed that the adventure was not based on any particular movie, but on a new story. How will it be marketed? ("Fantasmic!") Is it something that grabs you and makes you want to rush out to the park? Is it somewhat obvious as to what kind of ride it is? (Snow White's SCARY Adventures, Jungle CRUISE, HAUNTED Mansion).

"Pooh's Hunny Hunt" (and all TDL nomenclature) has to be able to phonetically "work" in Japanese (and not translate into something offensive) as they will be saying it at TDL, so those names go through different sets of filters to be approved.

I'm not sure why they would go outside for those Restaurants and their names, as there is nothing that progressive about them that they could not have been done in-house. All I can think of is that they were short handed, not that the content was beyond anyone's reach. Usually WDI creatively directs this kind of thing and keeps consultants on a pretty short leash.

Does that answer your questions? Should we rename the thread?
 

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
Iger Speaks. good read.

Bob Iger speaks out in the Wall Street Journal on the investments made on DCA and other interesting things. Check this out. He does invest in technology as is being discussed here so you'll get a sense of what they are up to.

A sneak peek..

Mr. Iger: [Apple CEO] Steve Jobs is fond of talking about brand deposits and brand withdrawals. Any time you do something mediocre with your brand, that's a withdrawal. California Adventure was a brand withdrawal.


Woah. I guess that just about says it.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704580304575600134000523928.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
 

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
Ferrari World review.

Our friend Alain littaye sent this link to an early review of Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi. It hits and it misses, but I think the imagery in some ways speaks to the opportunity to do a Tomorrowland design that is futuristic and a bit elegant. You'll see marble and sleek lines and canopies. If you compare this to Universal Singapore's "Sci-Fi City" (which is thematically similar to the TDL proposal I might add), there is a big difference in sophistication and approach.

http://www.thethemeparkguy.com/park/ferrari-world/


SciFi City images within the weekend update.

http://micechat.com/forums/blogs/we...kyo;-singapore-part-seven;-vintage-cards.html

Original TDL Sci-Fi City proposal. Look similar?

http://www.theneverlandfiles.com/tnf/international/scificity.php
 
Wow, thanks Eddie - brilliant answer, and some great insights I'd never considered before.

Your mention of Indy reminded me of a curiosity about why it wasn't simply named Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye, but I guess that was, as you say, to reduce the number of guests mistaking it for one of the films and emphasise it was an 'adventure' to be experienced and not just a film revisited.

What the guests call the rides is certainly important (and how they get shortened - as with the unfortunate Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor acronym!). I always find it interesting that the castle names (and some attractions) aren't possessive (ie. Sleeping Beauty Castle) yet are known to most people in their possessive form (ie. Sleeping Beauty's Castle) - I suppose guests want to imagine the princesses living there and giving them ownership supports that. Even Disney is inconsistant with this - take a look at the various tea cup rides, known as Mad Hatter Tea Cups and Mad Hatter's Tea Cups depending on the park (as well as Mad Tea Party and Alice's Tea Party to mix things up a bit!). Is there any logic behind this?

And as to renaming the thread... I'll have to check with marketing!
 

Eddie Sotto

Premium Member
Wow, thanks Eddie - brilliant answer, and some great insights I'd never considered before.

Your mention of Indy reminded me of a curiosity about why it wasn't simply named Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye, but I guess that was, as you say, to reduce the number of guests mistaking it for one of the films and emphasise it was an 'adventure' to be experienced and not just a film revisited.

What the guests call the rides is certainly important (and how they get shortened - as with the unfortunate Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor acronym!). I always find it interesting that the castle names (and some attractions) aren't possessive (ie. Sleeping Beauty Castle) yet are known to most people in their possessive form (ie. Sleeping Beauty's Castle) - I suppose guests want to imagine the princesses living there and giving them ownership supports that. Even Disney is inconsistant with this - take a look at the various tea cup rides, known as Mad Hatter Tea Cups and Mad Hatter's Tea Cups depending on the park (as well as Mad Tea Party and Alice's Tea Party to mix things up a bit!). Is there any logic behind this?

And as to renaming the thread... I'll have to check with marketing!

I never really noticed the possessive thing in relation to the Castles. I'll ask Tom Morris (who was responsible for the DLP Castle and HKDL Castle) and see what he has to say.

If I was to speculate, (and I am!) "Sleeping Beauty" is the name of a story not a person. It would be hard to make the story itself the possessive. "Sleeping Beauty Castle" is the Castle from the movie or story "Sleeping Beauty" it does not own it. Princess Aurora is the person, so in effect it would be her father King Stefan's Castle, no? The other rides vary and are probably a case by case basis, as "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" is about you specifically reliving his ride through the countryside to hell, etc. King Arthur's Carousel is his, etc. We named the Tea Cups, "Alice's Tea Party" even though the party was thrown by the Mad Hatter. Alice is easier to say in Japanese and helps you obviously get what story they originated from. Across from it is the "Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall" to broaden the theme.
 

flavious27

Well-Known Member
^ Aren't some of these things in the works already with the NexGen Project? :shrug:

Did not know about the NextGen Project. The details sound like this, yet there is no definite information. The $1- 1.5 billion rumored price tag is high for this kind of instillation, the highest I would spec this out would be at the most $100 million. The cost to replace all of the tvs in the resorts with say Sony's 40" Google TV would only be about $30 million. Adding a thin client pc with the readers onboard to the ride vehicles would cost about $1,000 per vehicle, with say 1,000 vehicles total, the cost would be $1,000,000. Server installation would top out at the maybe another $1,000,000. Updating the software and developing the mobile apps would be anywhere from $1,000,000 - $2,000,000, depending on how their existing systems are setup.

To implement this kind of experience would take 12 - 18 months. There would be a testing period of a month, with one or two rides used to break the system. It would take two months per park to update the park vehicles and add the new fastpass systems, along with readers throughout the parks. While the parks are being updated, the tv installation will run concurrent to that.
 
Tom Morris's input would be great!

It's funny how subtle the change can be with an apostrophe - with the Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall for example, it would be Queen of Hearts' if she owned it, whereas now it's just named after her (in honor of her?). Alice's Tea Party, then, tells us it is Alice hosting, or the tea party she experienced. Ah, the nuances of language!

I generally think that dropping the s makes the name more elegant, kind of like the stately home or school names we have in England (I went to Queen Elizabeth School, for example, not Queen Elizabeth's School). This also works for the carousels as they're more symbolic than realistic to the fairy tale setting, and quite definately wouldn't be owned by one of the characters (you mention Disneyland's carousel which is actually King Arthur Carousel not King Arthur's, which probably makes sense - the sixth century king wouldn't have owned a fun fair ride). Although on the other hand, the Magic Kingdom's Prince Charming Regal Carousel backstory says it really is owned by Prince Charming, so I have no idea where this line of thought ends up!

With the s, it becomes very definately linked to that specific character; perhaps they own it or it is their own experience you will be sharing. Without, it seems it's one step removed, perhaps themed around the story rather than the character (ie. Tom Sawyer Island).

Most modern ride names use the possessive s, but then every so often a name like Mad Hatter Tea Cups (Hong Kong) or Slinky Dog Zig Zag Spin (Paris) pops up so it all seems very inconsistent!
 
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