Rivers of America (plus Railroad & Dioramas) Re-Imagineered 2017

Donaldfan1934

Donaldfan1934

Well-Known Member
oo_nrb said:
The Thurl narration stopped being used around 2002. The narration before the closure was provided by Earl Hindman, of Home Improvement fame.

The brand new voice of the Railroad is Bob Joles, who is best known at Disneyland for his I-Didn't-Realize-That-Wasn't-Actually-Him take on John Rhys-Davies' Sallah at the Temple of the Forbidden Eye.
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Thanks for informing and correcting me on the whole situation. I recently watched a video of the voice actor panel at D23 so I knew who he was but couldn't remember his name. Since Bob Joles is obviously a very versatile voice actor, do you know if he did the more traditional voice that's currently on the WDWRR? And if not him, do you know who?
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
This all got surprising heavy coverage on tonight's 10 and 11 o'clock newscasts from all the LA stations. Must have been a slow newsday.



The poor dear doesn't know how to pronounce the word "canoe", but she has a very good source who has told her that Fantasmic! is "pretty amazing". The brilliance of local TV journalism on full display here. :rolleyes:
 
Curious Constance

Curious Constance

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
This all got surprising heavy coverage on tonight's 10 and 11 o'clock newscasts from all the LA stations. Must have been a slow newsday.



The poor dear doesn't know how to pronounce the word "canoe", but she has a very good source who has told her that Fantasmic! is "pretty amazing". The brilliance of local TV journalism on full display here. :rolleyes:
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I can't watch news because of the news anchors. It's so cringy it makes me physically uncomfortable, so I avoid it like the plague. Those caanews sure do look good though!
 
MisterPenguin

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Do not ride the railroad! It is unsafe!!!

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TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
mickEblu said:
Great to see the trains and boats running again. So the northern portion of the ROA.... yeah as of right now I prefer the old wall of trees. Sorry @TP2000. Lol. Can you blame me? I used to feel like I was somewhere in the wilderness. Now I can clearly see Mickey and friends parking structure. Talk to me in 10 years when those trees grow in and I may change my mind. I was expecting the waterfalls and trestles to be a bit more majestic but they work with Disneylands scale. They re just not very impressive when you compare the rock work to Grizzly Peak across the way. The most effective area in the new ROA to me are not the waterfalls at all, it's the area where the Native American is located on the cliff right before that birds nest. Over all it looks good but from an aesthetic and even thematic perspective this is a downgrade until those trees grow in.

And below is my tribute to them. A Haunted Mansion Tombstone in their honor.


RIP Wall of Trees

(1954- 2016)

Majestic you once stood
Chopped down only to become
Some Jedi Firewood
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Eh, they'll grow in quite nicely by the time Star Wars Land opens in Spring, 2019. Disneyland already went to quite an expense by putting in mature trees, and mature trees like that really fill out and up after one full annual cycle once the shock of transplanting wears off.

The Rivers of America went from this bleak look in 1955...
2011softfocus1.jpg


To this very different look along the same stretch of river by 1958.
021%2B-%2BMark%2BTwain.jpg


Here's a view from the Mark Twain of the new "bend in the river", the similar view of the 1950's images above, looking Northwest right towards Disneyland Drive and the Mickey & Friends Parking Structure beyond it. These trees will grow quickly, for fans of the Wall Of Green.
Rivers-of-America-07_2017_DL.019-749x500.jpg
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Our favorite lady blogger was there today, naturally. She was on the riverbank for the opening ceremony and inaugural cruise, while a whole bunch of TDA types wandered around onboard. :rolleyes:

 
George Lucas on a Bench

George Lucas on a Bench

Well-Known Member
They should just transfer the Great Movie Ride to DCA.

A lot of people seem to enjoy the projections in the Grand Canyon scene. I just don't see what they add. Like Natalie Imbruglia, I'm torn when it comes to these things. The crude projection of the seagulls in the Pinocchio ride whale scene is charming AF. The Alice in Wonderland projections were awkward and Disney suddenly had the idea they could add animation by projecting it into existing scenes or onto objects, even if the end result was bizarre. Apparently, this also required redoing the voice of the statue in the "Indiana Jones" ride.

The Grand Canyon was a masterpiece of static-ness. A stunning painting that just goes on and on. Time travel some High Renaissance artists to that scene and they'd probably die of a heart attack. The fact that nothing moved not only made it charming, it made sense as you were chugging along on a train, only briefly witnessing its glory. It's why there's very little animation in the highly populated ballroom scene of The Haunted Mansion, another Disney masterpiece from the 60s viewed from on high behind glass with a bullet hole. Now, a Back to the Future lightning bolt sets the Grand Canyon ablaze. How are those poor animals going to escape? They're static and behind glass. It was never that ominous and grim before, even if the lights did dim as we approached the end.
 
D

Deleted member 107043

disneyC97 said:
They should bring the Tarzan animatronics from The Great Movie Ride when it closes next month.
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Yes, anything would be an improvement over what's there now. IMO it would be ideal if they could design the Adventureland segment so that it was as scenic as the Critter Country/Frontierland section.
 

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