1031 Miles To The Castle

WDW Quiz Android App!

2014-07-12T23:52:00.001-04:00

My hobbies tend to switch very quickly as new opportunities present themselves. My latest has been to create a Walt Disney World quiz for true fans. I got sick of finding the same old questions in every "So you think you know Disney" Buzzfeed quiz. So I came up with my own trivia quiz, I researched questions, a coded the app, I paid for a Google play store license. I came up with this: (Free Trial LITE version) (Full Version $1). The free version has ads and the question database will not be updated. The full version will have question updates every week and has no ads. I hope you try them out!

Its not dead!

2012-06-23T16:05:00.001-04:00

Surprising how life can get pretty busy in a short period of time. But in my spare time I have been able to work on a few things that you guys get to prosper from. First off icons, screwing around with an icons program and a few pictures I found on the internet spawned these Disney icons:

To us them, right click and save the picture. Once the picture is on your computer change the .JPG to .ZIP and your files will be there! Right in the picture, neat right? The Second thing I have been working on is a little more involved. This is my little pride and joy. I am now introducing the first Flash WDW Monorail simulator! Here's a sneak peak:

Now don't get too excited yet, there is still much more to do, its barely operational right now, but i'm happy with the progress I have made in less than a month, especially because I am teaching myself Flash as I go. Right now the release date stands at "sometime", but I will provide updates as time goes on.

2012-03-07T20:16:00.002-05:00

Its a really busy week for me so sadly there won't be much content. Hope to be back to normal next week!

2012-03-04T16:46:00.000-05:00

Where in the World 6
Last week’s answer was outside of the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular in the Hollywood Studios.
Good luck!

The Lost Airport of WDW

2012-02-28T19:11:00.000-05:00

"The lost Airport of WDW? Oh you must mean that little air strip that you can see outside the window going to Epcot!"

No I do not mean the famous STOLport. There is another airport that Disney maintained on property, but this one was in use far beyond that of the STOLport, and this one many people do not know about. What I am talking about is the Epcot Center Ultralight park.

The Epcot Center Ultralight park is really not much of an airport per se, but a 424x424ft circular grass landing pad that could be landed on from any direction.

The park was about a mile south of World Showcase Lagoon which is now the location of the Art of Animation resort.

But why did Disney maintain an ultralight park? It seems a bit odd doesn't it... Well after a little bit of research (and I mean a tiny bit, thank you Wiki), I found 2 shows that I had never heard of, Skylaidescope which ran from 1985 to 1987, and then a few years later the Surprise in the Skies show that ran from 1991 to 1992. These were two short lived day shows that made use of the World Showcase Lagoon during the day.

Skylaidescope was an attempt at making Epcot a little more interesting for the kids and I assume Surprise in the Skies was created for much the same reason. Both had the same premise though, it was a mix of air, water and fireworks that took up about 15 minutes of your day. And judging from the pictures and video you would be wishing you had your 15 minutes back.

See what I mean?

But back to the the ultralight park, it seemingly closed down around 2001 when it was half turned into a lake and half turned into foundation for the Legendary Years portion of Pop Century. I say seemingly closed because the air strip was totally destroyed, but technically the ultralight park is still open, if you are going by FAA records that is. As of February 9, 2012, the airport is operating with 20 aircraft, 10 single engine, 10 ultralights, stationed there. Now if I were you I would try to go land there and not only because there are currently hotels on the runway. Because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks Disney World is considered a federal no fly zone, you would be shot down before you could try to land. If you do want to relive the old days you can still fly out of the airport in flight simulators such as Flight Simulator X, but sorry, that is as close as you will come.

2012-02-27T15:22:00.000-05:00

Where in the World 5
Last week’s answer was The Seas With Nemo and Friends in EPCOT
Good luck!

Aerial Case study - Magic Kingdom

2012-02-25T15:00:00.000-05:00

Notable Changes

2004-2005 - The 20k Lagoon is Filled in. Its interesting how in 1995 the subs are still in the water, while the ride closed in 1994
1999-2002 - The Magic Carpets of Aladdin installed in Adventureland
1995-2002 - The evolution of the Magic Kingdom bus stops
2002-2003 - The one Ferryboat dock is lengthened, but the other is not... weird
1995-1995 - Tommorrowland Stage pops up

I'm sorry the picture is a little small to see the details, the next time I do this I'll pick a smaller spot.

MGM to Hollywood, The Studios have Changed Part 2

2012-02-23T01:38:00.000-05:00

When you think of movie studios your first thought is probably production, movie sets, the backlot, and when The Disney-MGM Studios opened on May 1st 1989 the imagineers were able to not only capture the feel of a faux backlot, but create a real working one. This is something that the Disney of today would have never even attempted. To show off their creation they designed a full out studio tour that would rival that of real movie studios. In a 2 hour combined walking and riding tour guests were shown the intimate aspects of media creation from animation to television to the movies.

Image scanned by Werner Weiss from Disney-MGM-Studios Guide Book: © 1989 The Walt Disney Company.

You would start your tour by walking through the "Studio Gates" to a plaza that was home to The Walt Disney Theater showing trailers of upcoming pictures, The Soundstage Restaurant featuring counter service dining, the more upscale Catwalk Bar, and of course The Disney Studio Store. From this plaza you started the riding portion on the tour that is very similar to what we have today, ending at the water tank, where today's tour starts.

Tram tour features some important parts of the production process, but the meat of the tour was in the walking portion, this was where you really got to see the movies being made. You could actually tour the soundstages, special effects shop and post production, the things that people never get to see. When on this part of the tour you could even witness the creation of one of the many shows and movies produced there such as:

The Mickey Mouse Club
Adventures in Wonderland
Thunder in Paradise
Passenger 57

Sadly most of these productions were flops, and as a whole the live action movie and show production aspect of the park was a failure, but it still allowed people to see how they were made, it allowed people to get a sneak peak, something special that they could not see anywhere else.

As time has gone on this backlot tour has gotten smaller and smaller as the studios in Hollywood Studios have gotten smaller and smaller. With the axing of the soundstages and production and editing went the walking tour, but the biggest loss that came with the the downsizing of the backlot was when Mr. Eisner decided to cut the Florida branch of Walt Disney Animation, thus getting rid of the last of the studios. It was so nice to actually be able to see the artists doing their work for films such as Lilo and Stitch, Mulan, and Brother Bear. These films, unlike their live action brothers were huge hits, and to have seen them drawn makes you have a special connection to them. This is something that is totally lost, now when you are riding through the measly 35 minute tram ride, you see some mostly deserted costuming and workshops, nothing to memorable compared to the Artists of yesteryear.

The one positive aspect of the cutting of production space was the ability to free up room for much needed attractions. An example of this is using Soundstages 1, 2, and 3 for Toy Story Mania, in a park starved for rides this is a big positive, but subbing the new for the old isn't always a good thing. Take for example Lights, Motors, Action! Now don't get me wrong, I am a car guy and I love a good stunt show, but there is something about demolishing Residential Street that doesn't sit right with me. This is supposed to be a park showing off the hidden side of Hollywood that you can't see anywhere else. Residential Street, for me, made me actually think about the shows that I see on TV and how the houses are as much props as anything else. Residential Street was also the perfect home for the Osbourne Spectacle of Lights each winter.

There was something you could relate to when the lights were on homes that weren't too different from your own.

With the changing time there have been some good changes and some bad, personally I believe today's Hollywood Studios have grown to become a much better park, but the MGM-Studios of old still hold a special place in my heart.

2012-01-21T01:39:00.000-05:00

Where in the World 4
Last week’s answer was Maelstrom in EPCOT’s Norway
Good luck!

Create your Own Magic

2012-01-14T00:16:00.000-05:00

Being 1031 miles away I only get to go the the 'World every once in a while, so when I start getting that homesick feeling, and reading forums and blogs isn't enough, I have found something great to pass the time. If you are a Disney fan and you have never heard of papercrafting you are really missing out. Papercrafting allows you to recreate pieces of Disney in your very own home for just the cost of paper, ink, glue and some cutting utensils. Trust me, it is addictive. You can search around on the web for some crafts, but here are some links to get you started.

The best Disney Crafting Website is The Disney Experience There you will find beautiful models such as:

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Big Disneyland's Mark Twain Riverboat

For your first model you may want to go for something more easy such as this!

Walt Disney World Pizza Box

or this Great model from Disney

Star Tours Starseeders Set

Happy Building!

2012-01-09T23:26:00.000-05:00

Where in the World Week 2

Last week’s answer was The Carousel of Progress in Tomorrowland!

Good luck!

Introducing the Chevy SimCar...Car of the Future

2012-01-07T15:56:00.000-05:00

Test Track oh Test Track, great ride but in need of some heavy tender lovin' care. It has been running since 1999 with only one major refurb in 2004 to resurface the track and a short 6 day dusting in 2010. Luckily its one of the Disney rides with a large sponsor, and Test Track is benefiting from it. After 13 years in operation, Test Track is getting an update. GM Test Track is becoming Test Track Presented by Chevrolet, oh, big change right?

Well it sort of is, the ride is bringing in an element of guest interaction, which seems like the second biggest Disney initiative next to building new DVCs, but this seems a little more interesting. They describe in the new press release a new design center atmosphere to the queue, getting rid of the dusty grimy testing center. I do think this is a little bit of a loss, because, unlike most people, I did enjoy walking through and looking at the different displays, but they definitely were aging. In their new design center, they describe the ability to build a design (designing in the design center? crazy...) a car to then take out onto the existing test track. In concept, this seems awesome, but in practice it brings up a few questions.

I'm guessing they will borrow the design system from The Sum of All Thrills in Innoventions, but if you have ever wanted to ride that you would know its not the most efficient system in the would. Secondly, from the release, they say that they are sticking with a six person ride vehicle, but what if your party has say, four people, and the party behind you has two people, who's design is used? The only solution for this would be a new ride vehicle with a screen for each person, so each person can see how their design is faring but this only causes another problem. If your design is put onto a card to bring to the ride vehicle, a Cast Member would need to make sure the right program is loaded for the right seats, it seems like it would be a huge problem for efficiency and a single accuracy issue would ruin the entire experience for more than one guest.

What I can only dream is that Disney finds a way to not only show me how my design is faring on a screen, I want to feel how it is performing. I want to feel a stiff suspension in the cornering tests. I want to see the car stop on a dime with good brakes. If they brought the customization to the ride vehicle it would not only allow you to create the best car possible, it would also provide the comic relief associated with building the worst car possible, and that is what I call a good time.

Let's Take a Walk

2012-01-02T23:48:00.000-05:00

After a long day in the crowded parks whats better than a nice leisurely walk. How about the ability to travel from Point A to Point E without being stuck in a crowd waiting for a boat or taking the long way around in a monorail. These seem like logical reasons for a walkway from Magic Kingdom to the Grand Floridian, and these reasons seemed to facilitate the building of a walkway at least halfway to the GF, but they just weren't enough for the bridge.

In 1994 as part of the Disney Decade there was a plan to create a walkway that went all the way around Bay lake. They sold personalized pavers that cost from $85 to $250. The paver program officially ceased in 2000 coinciding with the creation of the Leave a legacy program at EPCOT. The remnants of this path can be seen out of the window of the monorail between the Grand Floridian and Magic Kingdom. If you are willing to take a stroll you can walk down the path, complete with lights and a white sand beach, but you will only come to a dead end with some bushes. The odd part is that it looks an unfinished path continues on the other side of the canal. It seems none to difficult for Disney to put up a drawbridge, pave over the last part of the path, put up some lights to have a working walkway. I mean, this is the same company that built not one but three mountains only a few steps away. I guess if Disney can't make money directly from something, they will stop everything they had planned. If only Walt knew...

2012-01-02T22:46:00.000-05:00

Where in the World Week 1

For where in the world I pick a picture from somewhere in WDW and you comment with where it is from. Who ever comments correctly first gets their name on the sidebar for the week!

MGM to Hollywood, The Studios have Changed Part 1

2012-01-02T22:21:00.000-05:00

Magic Kingdom? Castle. EPCOT? Spaceship Earth. Animal Kingdom? The Tree of Life. Hollywood Studios? The Chinese Theater... oh wait no its the Earful Tower... Wait I got it this time, The Sorcerers Hat. The Big Blue Bounce house that they built for the 100 Years of Magic celebration what Imagineer thought that was a good idea?

I'm guessing its the same one that put the wand on SSE. Behind that monstrosity lays one of the biggest lost gems of Disney World, The Chinese Theater. When I think Hollywood Grauman's Chinese Theater one of the first thing that pops into my mind, and with the theater comes thoughts of motorcars and movie stars. The studios were created to encapsulate the Heyday of the movies and walking into the park used to be like a movie premier. You would walk down the main boulevard walking towards the theater and imagine you were walking down the red carpet.

It started your journey into the movies. Lost in the shadows are the past, grand hand print ceremonies, the pictures that look like they are straight from Hollywood.

For now all we have is a store wearing a hat, or on some days, High School Musical...

2012-01-02T00:27:00.000-05:00

A Disney Blog from Upstate New York