Like a grand and miraculous spaceship, our competition has sailed through the universe of time. And for a brief moment, we have been among its many players.
After almost 3 years since our last adventure, The Sorcerer's Apprentice Season 4: Homecoming Edition sought to be a return to classic team-based imagineering and creativity, as well as the potential brink of a new renaissance.
Since the dawn of recorded competitions, we have sought to ask the question...why? Why do we play in these games? And where are they going? Homecoming strove to answer those questions by introducing new ideas that immersed the guests in an open canvas of imagination. A world where the players controlled the future and could leave their own mark on theme parks for generations to come. This is also a world steeped with imagineering tasks that only three members had emerged victorious from, and now a fourth has joined the ranks as the next Sorcerer's Apprentice.
So let's travel back in time together, shall we? We'll discover how this member became the winner of Season 4, and read the story of Homecoming Edition from the very beginning...
We start our journey as the 21 players that signed up with FastPass+, receive a letter in the mail with MagicBands, Magical Express reservations, and in particular, a Spring 2018 Mickey Monitor, featuring an interview with Yen Sid.
At the end of the Mickey Monitor pamphlet, a link appeared to the players, featuring a video entitled, SorcererMagic. This video would be a welcome parade of players down Main Street U.S.A. in the Magic Kingdom, but just as the players thought it was over, they discovered there was so much more...
The teams of Castle, Verde, and Brava were announced, as a tribute to the three destinations of Horizons, and a progression of Season 2's teams of Sea (Castle), Land (Verde), and Air (Brava).
Brer Oswald DisneyFan18
kmbmw777
MA Screamin'
mickeyfan5534
Pionmycake TwilightZone
The Teams Arrive On Disney's Magical Express (to avoid the fee for overnight-parking)
As the Magical Express passed a street sign, @AceAstro pointed out to everyone on the bus something odd...
"What is Disney's Inventus?" asked Ace as the bus continued on towards its destination.
The players then looked out the windows to their left to gaze out at Disney's Animal Kingdom, yet others were also perplexed at what they saw....
"Is that an omnimover at the top of The Tree of Life?" exclaimed @DisneyFan18 in an excited yet confused voice.
"What's that Brazilian mountain behind Pandora?" questioned @Magic Feather as the Magical Express turned onto World Drive and towards the Magic Kingdom Resort Area.
"You're probably wondering what all these attractions are" suggested spacemt354. "Now is a good time to tell you what you will be working with in the competition."
"We have all entered The SAU - The Sorcerer's Apprentice Universe."
"Within The SAU, through three past seasons of the competition, there have been 31 winning projects, all of which are a part of the greater universe. See that mountain? That's South America, another continent in Disney's Animal Kingdom added in Season 2 in between Pandora and Africa. The omnimover mentioned? That is Symbiosis: The Synergy of Nature, a slow-moving journey from the dawn of the universe to the DNA of the environment, added in Season 3. And to the first question, Disney's Inventus is the 5th theme park of the Walt Disney World Resort added in Season 3, themed to ancient mythology and international history."
"Each and every destination you travel to throughout the competition may have additions from past seasons included in those locations, depending on where we are headed. And as players in Season 4, you and your teams can write the future of the universe and leave your own mark on it for generations to come! Here are some helpful materials to get you acclimated as we approach our resort area."
"As we cross through the Magic Kingdom parking gates, this is where the teams will split up for now.
Team Brava, you are staying at Disney's Contemporary Resort
Team Verde, you are headed to Disney's Polynesian Village Resort
and Team Castle, you are going to Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.
Once you check-in to your guest rooms, feel free to chat with your teammates, get to know them, and relax for the next few days!
After settling into their guest rooms and enjoying their resort amenities, the teams decide to spend a day at the Magic Kingdom before the competition begins. We follow them as the Resort Monorail makes its way to pick up the guests staying around the Seven Seas Lagoon.
As the teams departed the monorail, the sound of a roaring steam train with bells and whistles came rolling into Main Street Station.
"We should go ride the train!" suggested @Voxel "or the peoplemover!" But since the train was right at the station, all the teams decided to hop on and head towards Frontierland.
"Splash Mountain is only a 15 minute wait - let's do that!" said @Brer Oswald as the train went through the mountain revealing the finale seen to the right side. "Look there's only 1 person on each boat! We can do team photos!"
And so that is what the teams did, as Team Castle, Verde, and Brava all got their PhotoPass+ pictures saved to their MySorcerersExperience app.
Everybody had a Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Ride! (except one person each log)
After settling into their guest rooms and enjoying their resort amenities, the teams decide to spend a day at the Magic Kingdom before the competition begins. We follow them as the Resort Monorail makes its way to pick up the guests staying around the Seven Seas Lagoon.
As the teams departed the monorail, the sound of a roaring steam train with bells and whistles came rolling into Main Street Station.
"We should go ride the train!" suggested @Voxel "or the peoplemover!" But since the train was right at the station, all the teams decided to hop on and head towards Frontierland.
"Splash Mountain is only a 15 minute wait - let's do that!" said @Brer Oswald as the train went through the mountain revealing the finale seen to the right side. "Look there's only 1 person on each boat! We can do team photos!"
And so that is what the teams did, as Team Castle, Verde, and Brava all got their PhotoPass+ pictures saved to their MySorcerersExperience app.
Everybody had a Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Ride! (except one person each log)
The Teams Arrive On Disney's Magical Express (to avoid the fee for overnight-parking)
As the Magical Express passed a street sign, @AceAstro pointed out to everyone on the bus something odd...
"What is Disney's Inventus?" asked Ace as the bus continued on towards its destination.
The players then looked out the windows to their left to gaze out at Disney's Animal Kingdom, yet others were also perplexed at what they saw....
"Is that an omnimover at the top of The Tree of Life?" exclaimed @DisneyFan18 in an excited yet confused voice.
"What's that Brazilian mountain behind Pandora?" questioned @Magic Feather as the Magical Express turned onto World Drive and towards the Magic Kingdom Resort Area.
"You're probably wondering what all these attractions are" suggested spacemt354. "Now is a good time to tell you what you will be working with in the competition."
"We have all entered The SAU - The Sorcerer's Apprentice Universe."
"Within The SAU, through three past seasons of the competition, there have been 31 winning projects, all of which are a part of the greater universe. See that mountain? That's South America, another continent in Disney's Animal Kingdom added in Season 2 in between Pandora and Africa. The omnimover mentioned? That is Symbiosis: The Synergy of Nature, a slow-moving journey from the dawn of the universe to the DNA of the environment, added in Season 3. And to the first question, Disney's Inventus is the 5th theme park of the Walt Disney World Resort added in Season 3, themed to ancient mythology and international history."
"Each and every destination you travel to throughout the competition may have additions from past seasons included in those locations, depending on where we are headed. And as players in Season 4, you and your teams can write the future of the universe and leave your own mark on it for generations to come! Here are some helpful materials to get you acclimated as we approach our resort area."
"As we cross through the Magic Kingdom parking gates, this is where the teams will split up for now.
Team Brava, you are staying at Disney's Contemporary Resort
Team Verde, you are headed to Disney's Polynesian Village Resort
and Team Castle, you are going to Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.
Once you check-in to your guest rooms, feel free to chat with your teammates, get to know them, and relax for the next few days!
After settling into their guest rooms and enjoying their resort amenities, the teams decide to spend a day at the Magic Kingdom before the competition begins. We follow them as the Resort Monorail makes its way to pick up the guests staying around the Seven Seas Lagoon.
As the teams departed the monorail, the sound of a roaring steam train with bells and whistles came rolling into Main Street Station.
"We should go ride the train!" suggested @Voxel "or the peoplemover!" But since the train was right at the station, all the teams decided to hop on and head towards Frontierland.
"Splash Mountain is only a 15 minute wait - let's do that!" said @Brer Oswald as the train went through the mountain revealing the finale seen to the right side. "Look there's only 1 person on each boat! We can do team photos!"
And so that is what the teams did, as Team Castle, Verde, and Brava all got their PhotoPass+ pictures saved to their MySorcerersExperience app.
Everybody had a Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Ride! (except one person each log)
After riding Splash Mountain, the teams wondered what to do next.
"Hey everyone,...why not ride the Peoplemover?" offered @Skipper2 "Tomorrowland! One of my favorite lands in the Magic Kingdom! replied @TheOriginalTiki
And with that, everyone traveled to the Peoplemover up at Rockettower Plaza Station. Some in the teams mentioned how they missed the old narration of the peoplemover, the pre-2009 refurb voice with the unique sounding announcement bell when they'd be approaching a new destination, as well as the booming voice that followed. spacemt354, MonorailRed, and tcool123, agreeing with these opinions, snapped their fingers before the teams boarded the attraction.
In The SAU, you have the power to change and modify the universe to your liking! As has been mentioned this is an open canvas of imagination! If there's even something as subtle as a different voice narration you want in the area you're working in, feel free to change it! (Remember that during the challenges, though I will probably mention it again anyway)
"What a great ride!" @MA Screamin' said "can we go around again?" And the remainder of the afternoon in the Magic Kingdom was spent in Tomorrowland on the Peoplemover...a relaxing afternoon for all before the competition began.
Bwahahahaha. Yep, you got me pegged there. As someone who's lived basically my whole life under the tyrannical rule of mediocrity that is Tomorrowland 98' I cannot tell you what a DRAMATIC difference in quality the Magic Kingdom Tomorrowland is. My god! From the somewhat unified visuals of the buildings to the Peoplemover running through it, Astro Orbiter being in the correct place and not a HUGE bottleneck, CAROUSEL OF PROGRESS! Yea, I'm sort of in love with MK Tomorrowland at the moment haha.
First time I visited Disneyland as a little kid was when the construction walls were up for that mess. NO chance to experience the original PeopleMovers, Rocket Jets etc. though I could have experienced the original subs still had it not been for my own childhood fears. I digress
Only thing I'll still argue Disneyland has going over WDW for Tomorrowland is Space Mountain. It's probably an overall more solid attraction top to bottom at MK thanks to a far better queue and post-show, but I still think the actual coaster at Disneyland blows the WDW version out of the water both with the music and a far better and more immersive star field. That, and Disneyland doesn't have a HUGE hotel looming in the background. That sort of threw me off, hahaha.
Like a grand and miraculous spaceship, our competition has sailed through the universe of time. And for a brief moment, we have been among its many players.
After almost 3 years since our last adventure, The Sorcerer's Apprentice Season 4: Homecoming Edition sought to be a return to classic team-based imagineering and creativity, as well as the potential brink of a new renaissance.
Since the dawn of recorded competitions, we have sought to ask the question...why? Why do we play in these games? And where are they going? Homecoming strove to answer those questions by introducing new ideas that immersed the guests in an open canvas of imagination. A world where the players controlled the future and could leave their own mark on theme parks for generations to come. This is also a world steeped with imagineering tasks that only three members had emerged victorious from, and now a fourth has joined the ranks as the next Sorcerer's Apprentice.
So let's travel back in time together, shall we? We'll discover how this member became the winner of Season 4, and read the story of Homecoming Edition from the very beginning...
I sort of look at Space Mountain at WDW and Disneyland in a similar way I look at Indy vs. Dinosaur. Believe it or not, I actually think Dinosaur is the better RIDE thanks to the more thrilling jump-scares and a far better finale (it's always bugged me that the section of Indy between the snake temple and boulder feels like they just ran out of money...) but Indy is CLEARLY the better attraction thanks to perhaps what still remains the greatest queue in the history of queues. With that in mind while WDW's Space Mountain queue certainly elevates the overall attraction experiences, I don't think it does as much as Disneyland's Indy to elevate it far and above its West Coast competition.
So, to follow my logic here haha...
Space at Disneyland BETTER than Space at WDW because of a superior ride in spite of WDW having a better queue
Indy at Disneyland BETTER than Dinosaur at WDW in spite of certain parts of the ride not being as good as WDW version, because of a hands down incredible queue.
This has been Professor Tiki's Oral Philosophy of Personal Opinions
