George Lucas on a Bench
Well-Known Member
It's not an homage, it's a rip-off.
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Splash Mountain Audio Mystery
- Thread starter mccgavin
- Start date
Sharon&Susan
Well-Known Member
Disney and Tony Baxter both claim that America Sings was planned to close before the idea of Splash Mountain was created by Tony and the reusing of America Sings figures was part of the initial pitch (back in the early 80’s). This is generally the more accepted story.
But, there is another
Alice Davis (who was Marc Davis’s wife) claimed that America Sings wasn’t planned to close until Splash Mountain went over budget in 1988. Disney made the decision to close America Sings and move the figures to Splash Mountain to save the money that was spent on reworking the flumes.
Makes you wonder who was telling the truth.
But, there is another
Alice Davis (who was Marc Davis’s wife) claimed that America Sings wasn’t planned to close until Splash Mountain went over budget in 1988. Disney made the decision to close America Sings and move the figures to Splash Mountain to save the money that was spent on reworking the flumes.
Makes you wonder who was telling the truth.
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
Baxter is. The storyboards for Splash Mountain show the America Sings Animatronics. The attraction was delayed and over budget because they had to redesign and build an entire new fleet of logs. The writing was on the wall for America Sings... they were pilfering animatronics from it since Star Tours.
Alice Davis's interpretation of the events is wrong, and likely skewed since Marc Davis was notoriously not fond of Baxter and critical of Disney in general from what I understand.
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
Something I've heard, but have yet to actually double check, is that to address the problem with riders getting to wet that necessitated redesigning the logs, they also rebuilt the final drop from 45 degrees to 47 to slow it down.
When they rebuilt it and put it back to a 45 degree drop last year, iirc someone from Disney said it was to address an "error" from when the attraction was built...
So was it an error that it was built at 47 degrees (especially since all the marketing at the time said 45), or did they actually rebuild it in '88/'89 to adjust the angle from 45 to 47?
When they rebuilt it and put it back to a 45 degree drop last year, iirc someone from Disney said it was to address an "error" from when the attraction was built...
So was it an error that it was built at 47 degrees (especially since all the marketing at the time said 45), or did they actually rebuild it in '88/'89 to adjust the angle from 45 to 47?
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
I'd say it's the Davis/Coats duo that's greater than Baxter. Davis when left alone gave us very character based attractions like Bear Band, and Coats gave us very environmental- like Adventure Thru Inner Space.
They were at their best when forced to collaborate, like on Pirates and Mansion. But if I had to pick someone to helm a project creatively, I'd pick Baxter over each of them if taken individually.
It's also worth noting that Coats and Davis peaked in the late '60s- when Disney was a very different company than what Baxter was forced to deal with. I'd be curious to see what Baxter's attractions would have looked like if he was designing in the '60s, and how Coats/Davis would handle the '90s and 2000's Disney.
Rohde? I've never understood the hype. His attractions and style of Imagineering have never appealed to me.
TROR
Well-Known Member
Everest is a fun concept but very poorly executed.
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
Yeah, admittedly I've never actually ridden it but it doesn't looks half as well executed as BTMRR in Paris.
Figments Friend
Well-Known Member
Look up Tony's Mary Poppins themed Attraction ' Jolly Holiday' concept he developed while still in college.
It was the 60s, and it is a impressive effort even today.
YouTube features a D23 video of Tony showing his original concept designs for it -
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SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
Look up Tony's Mary Poppins themed Attraction ' Jolly Holiday'
concept he developed while still in college.
It was the 60s, and its a impressive effort even today.
YouTube features a D23 video of Tony showing his original concept designs for it -
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I've seen that! A wonderful concept for an attraction.... And it's a shame we'll never see it built.
George Lucas on a Bench
Well-Known Member
It's just poorly maintained.
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
It's main effect broke and is "unfixable". I'd say that's poor execution
180º
Well-Known Member
It’s not unfixable. Nobody wants to accept blame for it and pay for the fix. The yeti may have been poorly engineered (and should ABSOLUTELY have been fixed or replaced a long time ago) but the coaster itself, the mountain itself, and the surrounding area were executed beautifully, to say nothing of the fact that it’s the last non-IP E ticket built stateside.
TROR
Well-Known Member
The exposed lift hill and drop both look bad
Disney Parks really are a culture. Fond memories of visiting the parks really strikes a cord with people, and this site has shown me how deep the rabbit hole goes.In the days before the internet, I used to think nobody on the planet could posssibly be as interested in DL ride details as me. When internet forums became a thing, I found that I wasn't just not-alone, I was a LIGHTWEIGHT.
180º
Well-Known Member
I disagree. I think they are well-positioned and add great kinetics to the area.
TROR
Well-Known Member
It looks cheap and ruins the forced perspective.
__r.jr
Well-Known Member
One notion I appreciate Tony Baxter doing when implementing Splash Mountain, is unifying Bear Country with New Orleans Square. Making both areas into a "Dixieland".
Disney often tends to break thematic cohesion than rectify it.
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
Yet another example of past Imagineering's desire to strengthen Disneyland as a whole- expand it's mythology and make it a more cohesive experience. That whole left side of the park is wonderfully executed- it's cohesive, beautiful, and feels natural to move between.
Even the Fantasy Faire overhaul of Carnation Plaza Gardens a few years back worked to strengthen Disneyland from both a creative, operational, and cohesive standpoint. It gave the princesses a tangible place to "live", it utilized the theater area far better, greatly increasing the number of guests in the area. But most importantly- it fixed the fragment of going from Main Street, Adventureland, Frontierland, then back to Main Street before hitting Fantasyland. The architecture used in Fantasy Faire creates a nice bridge between Frontierland and Fantasyland, the area feels like a natural fit, as if it was always like that. (Most of these points are taken directly from Baxter)
This is even more pronounced when compared to modern Imagineering's method- plopping down a new land with little regard to how it works inside Disneyland from a creative, operational, and visual perspective. Even Car's Land, often heralded as one of modern Imagineering's greatest achievements- really doesn't fit at all within DCA, and if anything, further fragmented the park. Yes, it's beautiful, and is more than a net gain- but it really functions as it's own entity within DCA, rather than a cohesive part of DCA's framented mythology.