Looks like they are making some changes for the better for once. :sohappy:
Disney takes aim at anniversary
Guns are back on the Jungle Cruise as Disneyland celebrates its founding.
By Kimi Yoshino
Los Angeles Times
October 21, 2004
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Hippos beware: The Jungle Cruise skippers are packing heat again.
And a caution to humans: Disneyland engineers are devising a safe way to return the stomach-churning spins to the teacups in the Mad Tea Party ride.
Many fans are cheering what appears to be a turnaround on political correctness, after watching the "Happiest Place on Earth" in recent years not just disarm the skippers and de-spin the teacups, but also strip mock frontier rifles from Tom Sawyer Island and stop marauding pirates from chasing frightened maidens in Pirates of the Caribbean.
Disneyland officials describe the changes as a move to recapture some of Walt Disney's original vision by "restoring the magic" to the park as it gears up for its 50th birthday next year.
"I've just been happy as a pig in mud," said Disney watchdog Al Lutz, founder of miceage.com. "I think they went too far in one direction and now they're course-correcting. They've gone back to the way they used to do things."
Not quite. Tom Sawyer Island is still gun-free, and the pirates continue to chase the wenches for their food, not their bodies.
But Disney watchers say the park is making improvements.
Disneyland spokesman Bob Tucker said engineers will return the spin to the teacups early next year. And the guns came back to the Jungle Cruise this month.
"It really feels like, for the 50th anniversary, we're bringing the adventure back," said Sherri Ribble, a second-generation Jungle Cruise skipper.
The company is celebrating Disneyland's 50th at all its parks. At the Magic Kingdom in Florida, the classic It's a Small World indoor boat ride is being refurbished and should reopen in the spring. And guns have returned to the East Coast version of the Jungle Cruise.
The park removed the weapons from the ride in 1998, the same year Disney's Animal Kingdom opened. Park executives thought it sent the wrong message for operators to "shoot" at an animatronic hippo with a theme park stressing animal conservation next door, spokeswoman Kim Prunty said.
The old firearms shot blanks. The new ones, installed this week, will be "simulated" weapons that will send a gunshot sound through the boat's speakers. Another change: The guns will be aimed in the air, not at the hippos, Prunty said.
As for the Mad Tea Party, "Our teacups have never lost their spin," Prunty said.
Disney takes aim at anniversary
Guns are back on the Jungle Cruise as Disneyland celebrates its founding.
By Kimi Yoshino
Los Angeles Times
October 21, 2004
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Hippos beware: The Jungle Cruise skippers are packing heat again.
And a caution to humans: Disneyland engineers are devising a safe way to return the stomach-churning spins to the teacups in the Mad Tea Party ride.
Many fans are cheering what appears to be a turnaround on political correctness, after watching the "Happiest Place on Earth" in recent years not just disarm the skippers and de-spin the teacups, but also strip mock frontier rifles from Tom Sawyer Island and stop marauding pirates from chasing frightened maidens in Pirates of the Caribbean.
Disneyland officials describe the changes as a move to recapture some of Walt Disney's original vision by "restoring the magic" to the park as it gears up for its 50th birthday next year.
"I've just been happy as a pig in mud," said Disney watchdog Al Lutz, founder of miceage.com. "I think they went too far in one direction and now they're course-correcting. They've gone back to the way they used to do things."
Not quite. Tom Sawyer Island is still gun-free, and the pirates continue to chase the wenches for their food, not their bodies.
But Disney watchers say the park is making improvements.
Disneyland spokesman Bob Tucker said engineers will return the spin to the teacups early next year. And the guns came back to the Jungle Cruise this month.
"It really feels like, for the 50th anniversary, we're bringing the adventure back," said Sherri Ribble, a second-generation Jungle Cruise skipper.
The company is celebrating Disneyland's 50th at all its parks. At the Magic Kingdom in Florida, the classic It's a Small World indoor boat ride is being refurbished and should reopen in the spring. And guns have returned to the East Coast version of the Jungle Cruise.
The park removed the weapons from the ride in 1998, the same year Disney's Animal Kingdom opened. Park executives thought it sent the wrong message for operators to "shoot" at an animatronic hippo with a theme park stressing animal conservation next door, spokeswoman Kim Prunty said.
The old firearms shot blanks. The new ones, installed this week, will be "simulated" weapons that will send a gunshot sound through the boat's speakers. Another change: The guns will be aimed in the air, not at the hippos, Prunty said.
As for the Mad Tea Party, "Our teacups have never lost their spin," Prunty said.
