Disney Avenue

Walt Disney and the CIA

2013-04-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

A new book claims Disney conspired with the CIA to buy up cheap land in Florida for Disney World and orchestrate a unique legal situation that makes the theme park above the law. The company took advice from former CIA agents and lawyers to engineer statutory grounds which still allows Disney World to avoid taxation and environmental regulation, it is alleged. The special legal situation underpinning the site is not only unconstitutional, it is claimed, but allows the company to avoid any inconvenient decisions democratically taken at the local level. Continue after the page break for the rest of the story...

In 2005 the then chief of Florida's Bureau of Fair Rides Inspection summed up the impunity with which Disney World operates when he admitted: 'We don't have the authority to close the park down or close the rides.' The allegations have been made in a new book, Finding Florida: The True History Of The Sunshine State, by investigative journalist Timothy Allman. Best known for his work on the CIA's 'secret war' in Laos and interviews with world figures as foreign correspondent for Vanity Fair, Allman has now turned his attention closer to home with this exposé of Florida's murky past.

William "Wild Bill" Donavan and Walt Disney

In Finding Florida he claims that Walt Disney conspired with William 'Wild Bill' Donovan - the so-called 'Father of the CIA' - to establish a state-within-a-state where he could 'control the overall development' of Disney World. Donovan, founding partner of New York law firm Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine, whose attorneys included future CIA director William Casey, provided lawyers to help Disney distract attention from its plans, says Allman. These attorneys, it is claimed, provided fake identities for Disney agents, set up a secret communications centre and organised a disinformation campaign to make sure sellers had no idea who was buying their property. In this way, Disney was from the mid-Sixties able to snap up 40 square miles of land in the Sunshine State for a knockdown price of less than $200 an acre.

Disney and his advisers then sought a way to 'limit the voting power of the private residents' of the area, to control the impact that local democracy might have on the company's plans. They employed a scheme devised by senior CIA operative Paul Helliwell to establish two phantom cities populated by hand-picked Disney loyalists around which Disney World would be based. The cities were based around Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, two artificial reservoirs Disney engineers created by obstructing the area's natural water flow. The company could then 'use these fake governments to control land use and make sure the public monies the theme park generated stayed in Disney's private hands,' Allman writes. Teams of Disney lawyers working out of Donovan's New York law firm drafted the legislation to establish the two pseudo-cities, which was passed by the Florida legislature in 1967.

However, in violation of both the U.S. and Florida Constitutions, the carefully drafted laws specified that any elected office holder must own property within the cities. The law, which states that each candidate for office 'must be the owner, either directly or as a trustee, of real property situated in the City', ensured any local politician would be intimately linked with Disney.On the day of the magic kingdom's inauguration, Walt Disney, speaking from beyond the grave in a recorded presentation, boasted of creating a new kind of America. 'Of course he was right about creating a new kind of America,' Allman writes. 'By turning the State of Florida and its statutes into their enablers, Disney and his successors pioneered a business model based on public subsidy of private profit coupled with corporate immunity from the laws, regulations, and taxes imposed on actual people that now increasingly characterises the economy of the United States.'

I think Allman is trying to make a story out of simple facts to create some kind of conspiracy, and why not, he is trying to sell a book. However, tarnishing a great man's name is shameful. Did Walt want to create a city in Florida, yes. Did he higher some of the top lawyers and professionals in the country, yes, any major corporation does. Did Walt want to make sure all loose ends were tied up and that in creating EPCOT not allowing residences, voters and politicians to ruin his company, yes. A lot of planing goes into creating a major city as Walt was trying to do and I believe he was only doing what he did best; getting a group of top minds together to create something never done before. If only we had that type of creative genius today; the world truly needs one more then ever!

Walt, Roy and Retlaw

2013-04-07T15:51:00.000-07:00

Retlaw, Walter spelled backward, was incorporated on April 6, 1953. The company would provide Walt a way to fund the development of Disneyland. He owned one-third of the company, and his daughters owned the other two-thirds. Walt negotiated a deal that in return for licensing his name to Walt Disney Productions, he would receive either a five-percent royalty from every merchandising transaction, or he would take a share of up to fifteen percent in every Disney project. Considering that the Disney name appeared on virtually everything, the agreement was especially lucrative to Walt and his family. This eventually created tension between Walt and his brother Roy. Continue after the page break for the remainder of the story...

Walt felt he had ample justification for the agreement. "I borrowed on the insurance I’d been paying on for 30 years, and sold my house in Palm Springs to get Disneyland to a point where I could show people what it would be,” he said. “My wife complained that if anything happened to me, I would have spent all the family money.” He did find one early investor, the Bank of America. One day Roy Disney was in his office when he got a call from a banker friend who said, “Walt was in my office today.” “Oh?” replied Roy. “It’s about the Park. We went over the plans he showed me. You know, Roy, that Park is a wonderful idea,” the banker said. Roy asked, “Did Walt try to borrow from you?” and the banker replied, “Yes, he did. And you know what? I loaned it to him.” Walt even had Hazel George, the Studio nurse and Walt’s confidante, to canvas the studio for additional investors. They called that group of early believers the Disneyland Backers and Boosters. Roy was impressed.

Eventually, Retlaw would own the old-fashioned scale-model steam railroad that would circle Disneyland and, in time, the futuristic Monorail that would circle Tomorrowland. The railroad paid twenty percent of its gross revenues to Walt Disney Productions for the right-of-way. Employees of Retlaw did not work for the Studio or Disneyland. They worked directly for Walt. Retlaw was also there to protect the Walt Disney family financially in case things did not go as well as planned.

Walt’s starting the new firm was a major sore spot between the Disney brothers. Walt wanted more control over his activities that were not directly related to the Studio. He suggested the arrangement was in the best interest of Walt Disney Productions as well as himself since the Studio could now count on the use of his name after he dies. Roy felt betrayed. The fact that Roy’s family did not benefit was the cause of the friction. Walt Disney Productions was a partnership between the brothers, and Roy did not appreciate the fact that only Walt's daughters and wife would benefit from the deal. He would still work with his genius younger brother but it was not the same. Retlaw was ultimately purchased by Walt Disney Productions on July 8, 1981, for $46.2 million worth of stock.

Disney Avenue Looking For Writers

2013-04-03T18:28:00.001-07:00

Have you ever wanted to write about your love of Disney? Have you gathered a ton of knowledge and history over the years about Walt, the Disney Company and the theme parks and want to share it with the world? If so, Disney Avenue wants you! Continue after the page break for more info...

As much as I love blogging about Disney history, my job and life just seems to get busier by the day. As I will still be posting at least one story per week, I would like to find a few contributing writers that are able to write one story per week. If you are interested please email me at disneyavenue777@yahoo.com for more information.

Walt Disney's Airplane

2013-03-29T02:00:00.000-07:00

If you’ve ever experienced The Backlot Tour at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, chances are you’ve seen “The Mouse” – a white airplane with a Mickey Mouse icon on its tail. As the tour says, this airplane was used to fly Walt Disney on secret scouting missions over Central Florida when he was looking for the perfect spot to build a second theme park. Continue after the page break for a look inside Walt's plane...

I’ve always been intrigued by this airplane and the important role it had in Disney history. Walt purchased the Grumman Gulfstream 1 (G1) in 1964, and worked with his wife, Lillian, to select the plane’s interior design and color scheme. (Remember, this was 1960s fashion!). The plane seated 15 and featured a galley, two couches and a desk. Walt even designed his own special seat in the plane, which was in the rear left cabin. The seat was equipped with a special altimeter and air-speed gauge, which Walt added to satisfy his endless curiosity about flying.

The plane’s first trips took Walt and his Imagineers to and from California and New York to oversee the final preparations for Disney’s contributions to the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Later that year, Walt began surveying land in Central Florida, considering the site a possibility for his second theme park. (On a side note, the picture of Walt below is one of the very last photos taken of him and is also one of the only times Walt walked on WDW property!)

The plane also led Walt to find inspiration for the look of one classic Disney attraction. According to Mark Malone, son of Walt's Pilot Chuck Malone, Walt spotted El Morro fortress while flying over San Juan, Puerto Rico, and remarked that it would be the perfect look for his new Pirates of the Caribbean, which at the time was still in the planning phase.

Flight Log from January 1966

Pictured above is a rare look at one of the flight logs used during a trip Walt embarked on for a cross country effort to enlist industry participation in his Epcot dream project in January 1966. He gathered up seven Disney Legends to fly with him on the company plane. The list included Joe Fowler, Joe Potter, Marc Davis, Roger Broggie, Bob Gurr, Lee Adams, and Steve Mulle. Could you imagine being on the plane that day? What a dream come true that would be!

In addition to taking Walt on his secret trips, the plane also took Disney characters on goodwill tours and visits to children’s hospitals around the United States. An estimated 83,000 passengers have flown aboard the plane, including Disney animators and several famous faces, including former Presidents Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, as well as Disney Legends Julie Andrews and Annette Funicello just to name a few.

The airplane’s last flight took place Oct. 8, 1992, when it touched down on World Drive, west of Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and was added to The Backlot Tour.

A Cute Little Story

2013-03-24T10:41:00.001-07:00

No one knows better than Alex and Donna Voutsinas that it’s a small world after all. Thirty years ago, when they lived in separate countries long before they met and married, a family shot of little Donna at Walt Disney World captured Alex in a stroller in the background. “It just blew our minds when we realized,” Alex Voutsinas, a 32-year-old transplanted Montrealer told the Star Thursday from south Florida. That fateful realization came just one week before their wedding eight years ago. Alex and Donna had been going through old family snapshots. There, in the blurry background of a 1980 picture of 5-year-old Donna was 3-year-old Alex being pushed down Main Street in a stroller by his father. The senior Voutsinas’s distinctive jet-black hair with its white tuft caught his eye. “My mother pulled out albums from the same trip. My dad is wearing exactly the same outfit.”

30 years ago, this family photo at Disney World captured a woman’s husband in the background long before they met. That's pretty darn cool!

Making of: Disney's Electrical Parade

2013-03-22T02:00:00.000-07:00

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls... Disney Avenue proudly presents our spectacular festival pageant of nighttime magic and imagination in thousands of sparkling lights and electro-syntho-magnetic musical sounds—The Main Street Electrical Parade!” Today we will take a look into the making of the beautiful parade with some history, music and a wonderful video. Continue after the page break for Disney Avenue's popular Making of series featuring Disney's Electrical Parade...

The Main Street Electrical Parade is a regularly scheduled parade, created by Bob Jani and project director Ron Miziker, famous for its long run at Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort most summers between 1972–1974, 1977–1982, and 1985-1996. It features floats and live performers covered in thousands of electronically controlled lights and a synchronized soundtrack triggered by radio control along key areas of the parade route. The parade has also spun off many other versions that ran or continue to run at Disney parks around the world. Currently, the original parade runs at Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World as Disney's Main Street Electrical Parade and an updated version runs at Tokyo Disneyland as Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: DreamLights. The parade is notable for its use of the vocoder voice effect, saying these lines just before the parade begins: "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Disneyland proudly presents our spectacular festival pageant of nighttime magic and imagination in thousands of sparkling lights and electro-synthe-magnetic musical sounds. The Main Street Electrical Parade!" Near the end, it repeats, "Disneyland's Main Street Electrical Parade!"

The predecessor to the 1972 Disneyland Main Street Electrical Parade is the Electrical Water Pageant, a show made up of fourteen 25-foot tall screens with electrical lights placed on them. The screens are placed on a string of seven barges that travel around the Seven Seas Lagoon in front of the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort, beginning at 9 p.m. at Disney's Polynesian Resort or immediately after the fireworks if they are scheduled for 9 p.m.

The Electrical Water Pageant still shows today. The Electrical Water Pageant has been showing since October 26, 1971, just weeks after the Walt Disney World Resort opened. In 1972, when the Main Street Electrical Parade debuted, some of the floats were flat screens on rolling platforms similar to the Electrical Water Pageant. The engineers who helped create the parade also created the first show-control program in existence. This allowed the 2,000-foot long parade route to contain multiple radio-activated "trigger zones."

Using radio-activated triggers as each float entered a zone, the audience would hear float-specific music through the park's audio system. Each zone was between 70 and 100 feet long, and the zoned system meant that every person watching the parade would experience the same show, no matter where they stood along the parade route. Until 1977, some of the floats like the elephant train and the American flag finale were 2D and had to be pulled or pushed along the parade route. The Blue Fairy float was a 3D float, and ran until closing. The Big Bass Drum pulled by the Casey Jr. Engine, the Cinderella float and canopy, a Chinese dragon (later replaced by Pete's Dragon) and the circus calliope were all 3D.

The original 1972 Disneyland Main Street Electrical Parade was designed by Hub Braden, an NBC Burbank Television art director, who had designed projects for Bob Jani, Disneyland Entertainment Division. The original parade units were built by a Chicago, Illinois, display company. The Main Street Electrical Parade had counterparts of the same name and layout at the Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort, which ran from 1977 to 1991. It was replaced by a similar parade called SpectroMagic, which ran from 1991 to 1999 and then reopened in 2001 and ended on June 4, 2010. In 1992, the electrical parade from the Magic Kingdom went to Parc Disneyland at Disneyland Paris and ran there until 2003.

It was then replaced by Fantillusion, a nighttime parade from Tokyo Disneyland that had earlier replaced the Tokyo version of the Main Street Electrical Parade, which ran from 1985-1995. Tokyo Disneyland's current night parade, Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: DreamLights began in 2001 and it was a return to the style of the original with updated new music and floats.

The Main Street Electrical Parade closed at Disneyland in 1996 after a 24-year run. Light bulbs certified as having been part of the show were sold to collectors. The replacement show, Light Magic, opened in 1997 and was an immediate failure. Disney quickly cancelled Light Magic but held off in bringing back the popular Main Street Electrical Parade. However, the parade was refurbished and appeared at the Magic Kingdom in May 1999 for a limited engagement, just in time for Walt Disney World's Millennium Celebration. The parade ended its run at the Magic Kingdom on April 1, 2001 and SpectroMagic was brought back the following day.

The Main Street Electrical Parade floats were then sent back to California for the parade's return to Disneyland. These plans changed after Team Disney Anaheim saw the poor attendance figures for the spring break season at Disney's California Adventure and feared that the park would fail to attract large crowds during the crucial summer season, unless they had a big draw. So, on April 25, 2001, Disney announced that the popular Main Street Electrical Parade would be coming to Disney California Adventure Park on July 2, 2001 in honor of the first summer of the park.

The name of the show was changed from the Main Street Electrical Parade to Disney's Electrical Parade. Most of the 1996 parade floats returned, except for the Pinocchio Pleasure Island section and Snow White diamond mine float, which were sent to Parc Disneyland at Disneyland Paris in 1997. The parade has been offered during summer periods and selected weekends. It finished a nine-month hiatus during the 2005 off-season at the Disneyland Resort, which allowed replacement of lights on all of the floats and alteration of wording on the drum to "Disney's Electrical Parade, Presented by Sylvania."

On the 2008 Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade special, Disney announced that a Tinker Bell float would be added to Disney's Electrical Parade, which would make it the first new float to be added to the classic parade in 20 years, since the temporary Mickey Mouse's 60th Birthday float in 1988. It was announced at a press conference on April 24, 2009, that the Snow White and Pinocchio units would be returning as well. Disney started testing updated and new units in late May 2009. Most of the major floats have had new LED pixie dust effects added to them. This parade, with the new Tinker Bell float replacing the Blue Fairy, made its formal premiere on June 12, 2009. California's caterpillar received a new digital face in December 2009. One of the original turtle floats from the Main Street Electrical Parade was on display at the "technology section" of the D23 Expo.
Disney's Electrical Parade at California Adventure ended its run on April 18, 2010 and is currently running at the Magic Kingdom as "The Main Street Electrical Parade."

Check out this old video when The Disney Channel actually featured park related specials not seen since the days of MGM Studios. In my opinion park fans are yearning for more of these specials (minus the mustaches and mullets that is):

The Music:

The Main Street Electrical Parade's underlying theme song is entitled "Baroque Hoedown." The original version was created in 1967 by early synthesizer pioneers Jean-Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley. Originally, the parade's soundtrack had the same themes as the current recording, but was a different arrangement by Jim Christensen and Paul Beaver. In 1977, it was updated and arranged by electronic music artist Don Dorsey and Jack Wagner at Jack Wagner Studio, which was used until January 2009 in Disney's Electrical Parade.

The various float-specific counter-music heard throughout the parade quotes other songs. For example, the music for the Pinocchio units uses the melody from the song "I've Got No Strings" from Disney's Pinocchio film, while the music for the To Honor America units quotes several American patriotic songs.

When the parade returned to Disney's California Adventure in June 2009, it began using the updated, orchestrated DreamLights soundtrack from Tokyo, but with changes made as certain floats in the California parade are not included in the Tokyo parade. The soundtrack for the current version, the 2009 version of Disney's Electrical Parade, The Main Street Electrical Parade (currently running at the Magic Kingdom), as well as Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade DreamLights version were arranged, programmed and performed by Gregory Smith. Mr. Smith also arranged the music for Disneyland's Remember... Dreams Come True show (which also contains a snippet of the original Don Dorsey arrangement, which then concludes in a grand orchestral finale arranged by Mr. Smith) as well as Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations fireworks shows.

The soundtrack to the parade has been released numerous times, here are a few releases that contain the multiple versions of the parade:

Main Street Electrical Parade (1973 soundtrack) (Disneyland Park, Disneyland Resort)

Main Street Electrical Parade (1977 soundtrack) (Disneyland & Magic Kingdom)

Fantasmic! Good Clashes with Evil in a Nighttime Spectacular (1992) (Disneyland Park, Disneyland Resort) - contains Return To Oz & Disneyland's 25th Anniversary floats, no character voices

The Main Street Electrical Parade (1999 CD) (Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World)- parade soundtrack only, without character voices

Les Parades En Musique (2000 CD) (Disneyland Park, Disneyland Resort Paris)- Show edit version

Disney's Electrical Parade (2001 CD) (Disney's California Adventure, Disneyland Resort) - full parade soundtrack, character voices included

Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights (2001 CD) - features two tracks, the first one is Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights, with Character voices and Sound effects and the second track is Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade, as well as character voices and sound effects

Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights- Show Mix Edition (2001) - features two tracks, the first features character voices, sound effects, and the parade underliner and second one is just the orchestra soundtrack without character voices, sound effects, and the parade Underliner.

Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights ~Christmas~- During the Christmas season at Tokyo Disneyland, the Electrical Parade gets a new soundtrack, it is mostly the same soundtrack with added Christmas songs, mixed in with the theme music. Features full parade with Character voices and sound effects.

Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights (2011 Renewal Version)- features the revised 2011 version, includes the new Aladdin, Tinkerbell, and Toy Story Units, and a tweaked Pete's Dragon Loop. also includes Character voices and Sound Effects, and No Underliner.

A Musical History of Disneyland (Disneyland Park, Disneyland Resort) - show edit version, character voices included

Don Dorsey used the following synthesizers to create the soundtrack: Moog Model III, Mini-Moog, Steiner-Parker Synthacon, Oberheim 8-voice, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Fender Rhodes Piano, New England Digital Synclavier II, Bode 7702 Vocoder, Roland MKS-80 Super Jupiter, Yamaha DX7 and Yamaha TX7.

Jack Wagner provides the synthesized vocoder voice for the intro and outro to the parade. Don Dorsey took over after Wagner died in 1995 by adding the word "Disney" to the introduction and outro of Disney's Electrical Parade in Disney California Adventure Park. When the parade visited The Magic Kingdom in 1999, Bill Rodgers provided the synthesized vocoder announcement.

While the original soundtrack is played solely on synthesizers, the Tokyo Disneyland version utilizes a full orchestra with adult, teenage and children choirs in addition to harmonies and synthesizers. This version also includes Character voices in both English and Japanese. This version was also orchestrated, programmed, conducted, and performed by Gregory Smith. During the Christmas season at Tokyo Disneyland, the Electrical Parade gets a new soundtrack, it is mostly the same soundtrack with added Christmas songs, mixed in with the theme music.

The version of Disney's Electrical Parade at Disney California Adventure Park and current Main Street Electrical Parade at the Magic Kingdom utilizes much of the soundtrack created for DreamLights, with new loops created for the Cinderella, Pinocchio, and To Honor America units. However, the new soundtrack retains a more electronic sound than that of Tokyo's in that many of the orchestral parts of the DreamLights soundtrack have been replaced by synthesizers in this version. A new loop was created for the Dumbo sequence, however, this sequence was cut from the parade.

The Amazing EPCOT Model

2013-03-17T13:18:00.000-07:00

Epcot's model was truly amazing: 115 feet wide, 60 feet deep, with 1400 individually street lights, 2500 moving vehicules representing future transportation, 20000 trees and 4500 structures / buildings. Disney Imagineer George Windrum recalled that, at Walt Disney's insistence, the interiors of the 1/8 inch scale buildings of the original Epcot model, which were barely visible through their tiny windows, had to be finished, furnished and lit. The guests might not notice but Walt would know the details were there. Today I'd like to take you on an in depth look at the making of Walt Disney's amazing Epcot Model. Continue after the page break and let's get started...

Walt's Epcot Model could have been an attraction on it's own. Let's start off with a look at this exclusive musical slideshow filled with rarely seen photos of Walt Disney's original Epcot model with its original 1967 narration from the Carousel of Progress. From the cosmopolitan hotel and the enclosed shopping center to the low density housing, you will also discover Epcot's stadiums, heliports, amusement park, nuclear power plant, PeopleMover and Monorail stations.

In these rares video clips, you can see the model as it was working in the Carousel Of Progress and its level of detail is simply astonishing.

The most detailed aspect of Walt Disney's Epcot project was the urban center featuring what was called the "cosmopolitan hotel" as the centerpiece. As seen in the Epcot film, an international shopping center and offices were supposed to be constructed below the "deck" of the hotel in an enclosed environment. Giant glass domes would have served as sources of light from the outside. For the 2004 documentary "Walt, the man behind the myth" from Jean-Pierre Isbouts for the Walt Disney Family Foundation, the urban center was recreated in computer generated imagery.

Below are some photos of the Model including rarely seen construction and close-ups of the original working and animated model from Disneyland and current section from Walt Disney World.

The making of the model

Aerial view of the low-density area. You can see: the basis of the central core (hotel + covered international shopping center), a PeopleMover line,
a church, the main highway, a stadium as well as around 20 family houses.

A close-up of the cosmopolitan hotel area at the core of Epcot with one of the office buildings and several glass domes.
Those domes were some of the light sources of the international shopping center constructed below.

Epcot's planned church was inspired by the works of famous brazilian architect Oscar Neimeyer
as seen in this comparison between the Cathedral of Brasília and the Epcot model.

Epcot at night

Close-up of one of the PeopleMover lines and station.

Urban Center view from above highways to and from Epcot.

Urban Center from the residential areas

Urban center: view from the greenbelt and the residential areas

Urban Center with hotel, offices, recreation deck and enclosed international shopping center

Urban center: view from the greenbelt and the residential areas

Urban Center with hotel, offices, recreation deck and enclosed international shopping center

Urban center: view from the greenbelt and the residential areas

The towering cosmopolitan hotel

The Stadium and Urban Center

Industrial Activities close to the highways and monorail line

Urban Center with hotel, offices, recreation deck and enclosed international shopping center.At the foreground: a stadium, a peoplemover line and station.

The recreational deck of the hotel: tennis courts and pools

The Progress City Model for Epcot at the Carousel of Progress, Disneyland

Urban Center with hotel, offices, recreation deck and enclosed international shopping center

The Original Epcot would have included an amusement park within its city limits. Unlike the themepark of Walt Disney World (later named the Magic Kingdom),
this amusement park was an urban one featuring many classic carnival rides for Epcot's residents.

To end our tour I'd like to share with you some wonderful Concept Art that really gives you a feel of what could have been.

The Master Plan drawn by Walt Disney 65-66

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

2012-12-25T08:26:00.002-08:00

Merry Christmas from Disney Avenue!!!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

2012-11-22T08:36:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving from Disney Avenue!!! I think the picture above says it all. Have a wonderful day everyone!

Major Avatarland Rumor

2012-11-14T21:06:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone and sorry for the little delay in posts. Well, life really does fly by. I'm now married and had one of the most fantastic honeymoons ever at Walt Disney World. While there a little bird told me what WDI has in store for Avatarland, or should I say ride through. Continue after the page break and see what I found out...

Our honeymoon was a dream come true. The botton we received at the beginning of our trip the read "Happily Ever After" was basically a key to some unique moments, not to mention every cast member on propriety telling us congratulations. We had an amazing time and I plan on writing a trip report soon. More to the point, while my wife and I were in the Magic Kingdom awaiting the train at the station that is attached to Splash Mountain we chatted with a wonderful cast member who seemed to truly adore his job. While we waited I asked him what he may have heard about the Avatarland. His response was very interesting although not that exciting. He told us that contrary to popular belief, Avatarland will not be a land at all. You see, WDI is working on adding an Avatar section that guests will ride through while on the Kilimanjaro Safari!

Let's now examine why this bold statement actually makes a lot of sense. For starters, the story line of the safari has been removed, Little Red and the old on-board recordings featuring "Mr. Wilson" are now long gone. Now guests drive past the new Zebra habitat area and the recording has been replaced with music and sound effects. Another reason this seems extremely accurate is because WDI's Joe Rhode recently informed the attraction's cast members that even more changes would be coming down the pipe over the next 3-4 years. Hummm, does he mean like Avatar scale changes. Lastly, talk has always swirled about Animal Kingdom starting to open at night. The park has always been ready for a night time frame with Dinoland, Expedition Everest, and the never developed Rivers of Light ride which was put on indefinite hold and never heard from again. The times AK was open at night, the park was absolutely beautiful and a Avatar section added to the safari just mite be the kick start AK needs to get the park opened at night which was a big selling point for Avatarland, that it would be stunning during nighttime.

So there you have it folks, the long debated Avatarland mite not be a actual land at all but, rather a little section of the popular Kilimanjaro Safari. If WDI does go this route with its Avatar addition how would you feel about it? Leave a comment below and check back soon for our WDW honeymoon trip report.

REMEMBERing: Opening October 1971

2012-10-17T20:32:00.001-07:00

In anticipation of my beautiful fiance's and I's wedding nine short days away and our sure-to-be fantastic honeymoon in Disney World to follow, I figure today would be a perfect opportunity to remember Disney World's opening and early years. Join us after the page break and let's take a look...

Disney's Headless, Horseless Horseman

2012-10-11T17:54:00.003-07:00

One of the most popular portions of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is the ride of the Headless Horseman. Recently, a new video came out that shows why horse shoes and wet brick just don't mix. The cell phone video captures the horse and rider falling while passing through Liberty Square on a slick street. Continue after the page break and let us examine this from a few angles...

The first video shows the actual fall:

Up next are 3 videos that are only a few seconds a piece, but shows us what happened where the last video ended:

Thankfully, the horse and rider walked away unharmed. Disney confirmed that the duo completed their route through the Magic Kingdom, but they did not participate in the evening's second parade because they were undergoing evaluations.

Early indications are that the incident was not weather-related, Disney said. It had rained Monday, but it had stopped several hours earlier, a Disney spokeswoman stated. There is a rain plan for the event in which the horse walks and trots the parade route rather than gallops.

As of now, the act will continue to be part of the Not-So-Scary event, which resumes Thursday night after regular park hours. Let's just hope they slow it down a little... at least for the horse's sake.

EPCOT 30th Anniversary D23 Presentations

2012-10-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

If you're like me you may have been a little depressed yesterday because you weren't able to join in all the amazing EPCOT 30th anniversary celebrations happening around the park. Well I have the perfect Prozac-like fix for you! Continue after the page break for all the fantastic panels that went on in celebration of 30 amazing years of EPCOT...

The day before Epcot hit three decades of education and entertainment, D23 presented fans with a full day of panel discussions and never-before-seen visuals. The sold out special event took place inside the park’s World Showplace, featuring a journey through favorites from the past thirty years, beginning with Walt Disney’s original EPCOT concept and concluding with some of the most memorable parts of what ultimately became Walt Disney World’s second theme park.

As with most D23 events, the Epcot 30th Anniversary Celebration kicked off with a rousing opening movie followed by a few introductory remarks from head of D23 Steven Clark. What followed was a series of nine presentations that had to be seen in person to fully enjoy. Due to the unique and rare content shared, along with plenty of amusing anecdotes, recording of any sort was prohibited and only limited photography was allowed. The exception was Clark’s introduction, shared below, followed by a panel-by-panel summary of highlights that made up an overall enjoyable and entertaining special event.

Epcot 30th Anniversary Celebration presentations:

Epcot: The Dawn of a New Disney Era
Panelists: Marty Sklar (pre-recorded)

Though Marty couldn’t be in Orlando in time for this D23 event due to attending his annual Herb Ryman Foundation fund raiser at his home, his importance in the history of Epcot can’t be understated. Marty worked side-by-side with Walt Disney in the development of his original EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) concept, one that ultimately was abandoned with Disney’s untimely death just six weeks after the famous EPCOT television special was aired. In his virtual presentation, Marty discussed how that community, enhanced by people movers and monorails, was to easily transport commuters between work and home. But when Walt passed, it left Disney designers without a direction, unclear as to where to go with the project. Sklar aided in the development of what they called “EPCOT forums,” including industry and creative people such as author Ray Bradbury, to decide on that direction. Ultimately it was decided that EPCOT Center, the theme park, could be a place to utilize the trust the public had in Mickey Mouse to communicate important issues and topics. But Disney was well aware that they couldn’t fully teach any particular topic in the park, only offering 20-30 minutes to get people interested and excited.

With its design and completion, Marty feels The Land pavilion is the closest they came to achieving Walt’s own vision of Epcot in that its Living with the Land attraction offers a glimpse into a working facility for growing produce and other food, much as EPCOT would have been a self-sustaining community.

We Can Do It!
Panelists: Duncan Dickson, Bob Matheison, Jim McCaskill, Tom Nabbe, Charlie Ridgway, Howard Roland, Bill Sullivan, Jason Surrell

The spirit of the Disney company following Walt’s passing with regards to the EPCOT project was a motto of “we can do it,” a spirit felt by all who worked on its design and construction. But while the final result was a Disney theme park that’s still entirely unique thirty years later, its creation wasn’t without setbacks, obstacles, and plenty of amusing moments, all shared by this panel of those who played important roles in its completion. The list of bumps this crew encountered while building EPCOT Center wasn’t short. Ridgway shared the World Showcase lagoon was formed by pumping out “muck,” which ultimately was relocated to help build the Caribbean Beach resort.(Moderator/Imagineer/self-proclaimed comedian Jason Surrell then chimed in to note “It’s a perfectly lovely hotel.”) In the construction of that lagoon and its surrounding monorail supports, Disney lost seven 120-foot pylons to the lagoon’s depths.

Other moments of difficulty included having to “rip up” the ground twice for many of EPCOT’s buildings at a considerable extra cost, as the plans couldn’t yet pinpoint the footprint to lay the “pads.” Designers wondered about simpler issues like which direction the Leaning Tower of Pisa featured in the Italy pavilion should lean in, ultimately decided on sight based solely on what they felt would look right.

Working with ambassadors from the countries represented around the World Showcase was often challenging, but cultural differences were often overcome with a bit of Disney magic. Ridgway offered a story in which ambassadors arrived in tight suits, rather official in demeanor, but after being given name tags, called by their first names, and taken to a Ft. Wilderness dinner show, everyone was smiling, laughing, and quickly became friends. On Epcot’s opening day, October 1, 1982, 100% of the Cast Members in each of the World Showcase pavilions were from their respective countries, but that decision wasn’t made until just 6 months prior, previously thought that only one or two cultural representatives would be in each.

When asked what Walt Disney would think of what Epcot is now like, 30 years later, Ridgway noted that Disney was never satisfied and always wanted more.

Bill “Sully” Sullivan concluded by asking the audience to take a look at the “heavy woods” around property, noting that’s how all the land looked like when Walt Disney World construction began, without power, water control, ultimately shaped into a “tasteful atmosphere” that he asks everyone remain proud of.

Looking Back at Tomorrow
Panelists: Archivists Steven Vagnini and Michael Crawford

Die-hard Epcot fans had a chance to take a peek into the Walt Disney Archives at a variety of sketches, early design concepts, photographs, and video clips, many never before seen by the public, that offered a glimpse at how most of the park’s most beloved experiences came to be. Like most Archives presentations, photography was not permitted due to the exclusive nature of the content.

The presentation started big with a glimpse at the first-ever World Showcase drawings shown for the first time to the public, followed by variations on the famous EPCOT pavilion logos. Those familiar with the park’s past know the name SMRT-1, a George McGinnis-designed interactive robot once part of Communicore, a precursor to Innoventions. But revealed at this presentation was a concept for SMRT-2, a sequel of sorts to the original robot that would have replaced the Astuter Computer Review, but never happened.

More interesting and bizarre characters that never made it into the park shown at the event include the X. Atencio-designed Communicat, a mascot for Communicore, and a humorous character pair for The Living Seas called Captain Saltyhinder and his pet mackerel, described by designer John Hench as a “Hi-tech deep water Dreamfinder idea with mackerel Figment.”

Keeping with the theme of Epcot that never was, several of the park’s pavilions received lengthy name treatments before their simple names were decided upon. Options for World of Motion included Transportation Pavilion, Transways, Transcenter, American Cavalcade of Transportation, Transanctorium, and Transposanctorium along with a few not-so-serious suggestions like Panoramble, Guzzlerama, Legroom-o-Rams, and Stickshift-o-Rama. Likewise, The Land may have been known as Avant-Gardens, Harvest Tomorrow, Terrarama, Land Alive!, Naturescope, or Terra of Tomorrow.
The presentation ended with an extended look at favorite extinct attraction Horizons, originally planned as a science pavilion that would be a sequel to the Carousel of Progress, following inventors through the years. Original names for this attraction included Century 3 and FutureProbe. As a grand finale, all three classic film endings of Horizons were shared in pristine condition, much to the audience’s delight.

Makin’ Memories: Epcot on Film
Panelists: Former Imagineer Bob Garner and historian Tim O’Day

Any time a presentation has “on film” as part of the title, it’s a clue that while it will be entertaining and interesting, it won’t be particularly captivating, presenting the majority on screens rather than live. In this case, that proved to be mostly true, though moderator Tim O’Day always succeeds in keeping a presentation interesting, even if only setting up clips. Though it began a bit slowly with a variety of fly-throughs of early EPCOT models and continued with pieces of the EPCOT opening day celebration, which Disney has shown at numerous events, the highlight came in Garner sharing his equivalent of a “screen test” or “audition” for Figment, the beloved purple dragon from the Journey Into Imagination attraction. The clip showed Garner talking to the camera, offering the differences between a puppet version of Figment and a motionless Audio-Animatronics figure, which Garner obviously had a disdain for. It was a rare look at how Figment was developed.

Garner was also responsible for the famous shot of Mickey Mouse waving while precariously standing on top of Spaceship Earth, which he now admits was quite dangerous, having Mickey’s feet tied down while standing atop a ladder as a helicopter flew overhead to get the shot. He was relieved he didn’t get fired for the shoot.

Imagineering Epcot: An Extra Perceptive Close-Up of Things
Panelists: Imagineers Jason Grandt, Jason Surrell, Alex Wright

The event immediately picked up momentum with the comedy stylings of a trio of Imagineers that might just be WDI’s version of the Three Stooges. With more ad-lib and jokes than actual content, Grandt (the handsome one), Wright (the silver fox), and Surrell (the bald one) - their self-proclaimed names - worked their way through an “up-close” view of various interesting details that can be seen around Epcot today, many with historical, cultural, or personal ties. Sifting through the wise cracks and planned lack of rehearsal, interesting tidbits included the fact that designers were initially told Spaceship Earth could not be built as a giant suspended dome, but John Hench begged to differ, drawing a sketch (shown at the presentation) that showed the top 75% would sit on a platform while the bottom 25% would be suspended below, which is how it was indeed built.

Many in-jokes persisted throughout the entire presentation, including the running joke of Jason Grandt’s personal obsessions with theme park design oddities like wall carpet, which was emphasized this time with an old memo to Marty Sklar about the purchasing of said carpet overseas, dug up and shown simply for the purpose of continuing this gag over several D23 events. Grandt’s peculiar sense of humor continued with a story he shared involving the fake human figures inside the Steve Church in the Norway pavilion. Grandt’s niece apparently recently asked about whether those humans are real, to which he replied that they couldn’t be real and frozen, as the glass wouldn’t hold them in if they ever reanimated as zombies. Makes sense.

Furthering the jokes, the question was at one point posed as to why Epcot’s China pavilion is particularly unique, to which Jason Surrell blurted out, “Communism!”, then becoming another running joke for the duration. Ultimately, this trio delivers on entertaining the crowd, even if their act is a bit light on any actual interesting information.

“We’ve Just Begun to Dream”
Panelists: Ron Logan, Carol Campbell, Gene Columbus, Gary Paben, Tony Peluso, Bob Radock, Steve Skorija

A group of live entertainment heads gathered to discuss the development and performance of Epcot’s elaborate opening ceremonies, led by music director Ron Logan. Logan jokingly noted that live entertainment is “cheaper” and “faster” than Walt Disney Imagineering, allowing them to try more inventive and unique spectacles without the lengthy R&D process.

But unlike Epcot’s captivating live entertainment offerings, this particular presentation was not quite as thrilling. Many stories were shared about the complexities of organizing the opening events. Apparently the park’s famous fountain wasn’t quite complete in time for the opening, requiring plumbers to be cued to make it fire for the show. The opening day festivities featured hundreds of performers, more than could actually watch it in person. They often had to “figure it out” and take chances to make it all come together.

EPCOT Illusioneering and Beyond
Panelists: Daniel Joseph

One of the most fascinating presentations at the D23 event was delivered by Imagineer Daniel Joseph of the special effects and illusions department, clearly passionate about his work and following in great footsteps of the past to create Disney magic. “Illusioneering” is a term Disney has been using for decades, though is less well known than “Imagineering,” the difference being its focus on the “how did they do that” moments that appear right in front of guests. Joseph’s own inspiration came from Epcot’s Horizons attraction as well as the late Imagineer Yale Gracey, who most famously worked on The Haunted Mansion to develop effects still used today including the singing busts, talking Madame Leota head, and ghostly ballroom dancers. Rare video of Gracey speaking in the ’80s just after EPCOT Center opened was shared, offering a glimpse at how this soft-spoken man used his own “tinkering” skills to create simple, but entirely believable illusions that repeat in the parks all day, every day of the year.

Another prominent figure in Disney’s Illusioneering history was Bob McCarthy, known as “The Wizard,” aiding to create widely appreciated effects like the smells piped in to Spaceship Earth and Horizons. McCarthy ultimately became his own work, appearing as the father in “two brothers” sequence in the American Adventure attraction.

Notable firsts mentioned in Joseph’s presentation include the unique suspended ride vehicle system used in Horizons, recurring holography and holographic-looking images, fake lava and fire, fiber optics, and even the notion of getting a photo taken on a ride, pioneered by Journey Into Imagination. Even today’s prevalence of interactive elements in the parks date back to Epcot’s early days with the Imagination pavilion’s ImageWorks featuring a rotating variety of interactive elements.

Joseph, who is currently working on effects for the new Test Track, opening within the next couple months at Epcot, ended the presentation by running through reasons why the future Epcot depicted in the past exists today, including modern day computers, transportation, and energy sources.

Journey Into Imagination
Panelists: Imagineer Tony Baxter, original Dreamfinder Ron Schneider, Steve Taylor

When longtime Imagineer Tony Baxter’s name is attached to a presentation, fans are immediately excited to hear him share some of his wealth of experience and knowledge acquired throughout decades of working on many of the biggest Disney theme park projects. In this case, Baxter was in attendance to talk about one of his most beloved, the original Journey Into Imagination, which in recent years has suffered as a result of multiple renovations that have been considered relative failures by longtime Epcot fans.

But Baxter didn’t begin by simply talking about the Imagination pavilion itself. To tell the complete story, he had to take it two steps before that to a time when he had worked on attraction ideas for The Living Seas and The Land. Those elaborate concepts were impressive, though photography restrictions during this presentation prevent them from being shown here. It wasn’t the first time Baxter had shown off these concepts to a D23 audience, but the important point in showing them again this time was to set up elements from them that found their way into Journey Into Imagination.

Most influential was the character of Landkeeper, a jolly bearded fellow who ultimately evolved into the famous Dreamfinder after many iterations. In designing a never-built attraction called Discovery Bay for Disneyland, Baxter said Imagineer Steve Kirk created a pair of characters, one a bearded man and the other a dragon he carried around. Originally known as “Professor Marvel,” this character was created with a Victorian aesthetic, planned for a carousel theater attraction. Baxter noted that this 1980 design may have been a precursor to what we know today as steampunk. But over time Dreamfinder found his way to the design Epcot fans are familiar with.

Coming up with Figment was a bit more difficult, even in name. Ultimately it took an episode of “Magnum PI” for Baxter to come up with the simple name Figment, after hearing a character on the show make a reference to a “figment of my imagination.” Figment was originally to be green in color, but the Imagination pavilion’s sponsor Kodak wasn’t thrilled with using a competitor’s color scheme, instead wanting their own red and yellow branding. Baxter credits the songwriting Sherman Brothers for making him the “royal purple pigment” shade he became, though his red and yellow sweater was indeed a nod to Kodak.

It was Imagineer X Atencio that drew the final look for Dreamfinder and Figment and after several casting calls to void the small dragon’s voice, Baxter remembers thinking he needed a “little person” to go with the “little dragon,” ending up with veteran actor Billy Barty.

From there, the story of Dreamfinder and Figment began to take shape, following a human’s own method for fueling imagination in three stages: gather, store, and recombine. It was all brought together in an understandable story using the carousel idea Disney designers previously had, though allowing ride vehicles to travel along with the Dreamfinder’s ship on a carousel, rather than moving between scenes.

Baxter interestingly noted that three parts of the Journey Into Imagination ride were supposed to be roller coaster style segments, leading into the terror, science, and on-ride photo, segments of the attraction but the ride system didn’t cooperate and wouldn’t allow it.

Following that history and a look at the attraction’s grand opening, Ron Schneider and Steve Taylor took the stage to discuss their time as “friends” with Dreamfinder in the park. Schneider told the story of how he got the role, first working at Disneyland’s Golden Horseshoe and ultimately setting his sights on the new character. He said he most often gets asked by fans how to get a “dream job” at Disney, to which he replies to “follow your bliss,” and that it helps to get a job at Disney for a while, then leave the company and train in the particular field of interest, and then find a way back into the right position. Steve Taylor was “friends” with Dreamfinder longer than Schneider, for 15 years, confirming Schneider’s advice by saying he began by sweeping floors, eventually left Disney, then found his way back through other connections. Taylor also shared just how touching taking on a role at Disney could be with a story of a cancer-stricken young boy named Eric who became very close with Dreamfinder over the years until the disease finally took him.

In the end, Baxter invited the D23 audience to join on a virtual “ride” through the original Journey Into Imagination via music, sounds, artwork, and video. In the end, Ron Schneider popped back in with his best Dreamfinder voice to conclude the journey with an “on ride photo” of the audience taken earlier in the event.

The Music of Epcot Center
Panelists: Russell Brower, Greg Ehrbar, Tim O’Day, Steven Vagnini

The final presentation of D23’s Epcot 30th celebration wasn’t exactly a grand finale, but just a conclusion. Playing samples from musical pieces throughout Epcot history, Russell Brower and Greg Ehrbar shared some favorites. Brower co-wrote music for The Living Seas with George Wilkins as well as the Innoventions plaza music that still plays today in the park. The presentation worked its way through legendary Disney songwriters and composers including Buddy Baker, X Atencio, and the Sherman Brothers. It was said that Marty Sklar’s own favorite Sherman Brothers song is Magic Journeys from the old Epcot attraction of the same name.

As with many of the other presentations during the event, special attention was given to Horizons and particular its theme song composer George Wilkins as well as a few “lost” songs from the Sherman Brothers that weren’t included in the attraction. One such song, “Tomorrow’s Windows,” was sung live by D23’s Armchair Archivist Melody Dale followed by a performance of “Golden Dreams” from the American Adventure, sung live by veteran Epcot performer Billy Flanigan, who previously sung the same song at last year’s Destination D event.

The entire event wrapped up with an “internal” video featuring Marty Sklar and other Disney luminaries of the ’80s offering a congratulations that they indeed “could do it” upon completing Epcot. Attendees were given “We Can Do It!” buttons on the way out to commemorate the event.

EPCOT: 30th Anniversary

2012-10-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

Today EPCOT celebrates 30 magical years and Disney Avenue would like to join in the celebration. Continue after the page break for some history, photos, videos and more in honor of EPCOT's 30th Anniversary...

To all who come to this place of joy, hope and friendship—welcome. EPCOT is inspired by Walt Disney's creative vision. Here, human achievements are celebrated through imagination, wonders of enterprise and concepts of a future that promises new and exciting benefits for all. May EPCOT Center entertain, inform and inspire and above all, may it instill a new sense of belief and pride in man's ability to shape a world that offers hope to people everywhere in the world.

—E. Cardon Walker, March 1, 1982

Epcot is one of the world's most beloved theme parks. The park is dedicated to the celebration of human achievement, namely international culture and technological innovation. The second park built at the resort, it opened on October 1, 1982 and was initially named EPCOT Center. In 1994, the "Center" was dropped from the park's name, and by 1996, the park was simply named Epcot. In 2011, Epcot hosted approximately 10.83 million guests, ranking it the third most visited theme park in the United States, and sixth most visited theme park in the world.

EPCOT is an acronym of Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, which was the name originally given by Walt Disney to a conceptual Utopian city of the future that he had wanted to build on the site that is now Walt Disney World. Disney's original vision of EPCOT was for a model community, home to twenty thousand residents, which would be a test bed for city planning and organization. Disney's vision was not realized as funding and permission to start work on his Florida property would not be granted until he agreed to build the Magic Kingdom first. Disney died before the Magic Kingdom opened and the Walt Disney Company decided that it did not want to be in the business of running a city.

Walt Disney's original vision of EPCOT was for a model community, home to twenty thousand residents, which would be a test bed for city planning and organization. The community was to have been built in the shape of a circle, with businesses and commercial areas at its center, community buildings and schools and recreational complexes around it, and residential neighborhoods along the perimeter. Transportation would have been provided by monorails and PeopleMovers (like the one in the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland). Automobile traffic would be kept underground, leaving pedestrians safe above-ground. Walt Disney said, "It will be a planned, controlled community, a showcase for American industry and research, schools, cultural and educational opportunities. In EPCOT, there will be no slum areas because we won't let them develop. There will be no landowners and therefore no voting control. People will rent houses instead of buying them, and at modest rentals. There will be no retirees; everyone must be employed." The original model of this original vision of EPCOT can still be seen by passengers riding the Tomorrowland Transit Authority attraction in the Magic Kingdom park; when the PeopleMover enters the show house for Stitch's Great Escape!, the model is visible on the left (when facing forward) behind glass. This vision was not realized. Walt Disney was not able to obtain funding and permission to start work on his Florida property until he agreed to build the Magic Kingdom first. Disney died nearly five years before the Magic Kingdom opened.

Before the park debuted on October 1, 1982, Walt Disney World Ambassador Genie Field introduced E. Cardon Walker, Disney's chairman and CEO, who dedicated EPCOT Center. Walker also presented a family with lifetime passes for the two Walt Disney World theme parks. His remarks were followed by Florida Governor Bob Graham and William Ellinghouse, president of AT&T.
As part of the opening-day ceremony, dancers and band members performed We've Just Begun to Dream. The Sherman Brothers wrote a song especially for the occasion entitled, "The World Showcase March". During the finale, doves and many sets of balloons were released.

Performing groups representing countries from all over the world performed in World Showcase. Water gathered from major rivers across the globe was emptied into the park's fountain of nations ceremonial containers to mark the opening.

Located at the front of the park is a plaque bearing Walker's opening-day dedication, as seen above.

The park consists of two sections—Future World and World Showcase—laid out in an hourglass shape.

Future World

Future World consists of a variety of pavilions that explore innovative aspects and applications of technology. Originally, each pavilion featured a unique circular logo which was featured on park signage and the attractions themselves. The logos, including that of Epcot itself, have been phased out over recent years, but some remnants still remain scattered throughout the park.

Spaceship Earth
Innoventions
Universe of Energy
Mission: SPACE
Test Track
The Seas with Nemo and Friends
The Land
Imagination!

Each Future World pavilion was initially sponsored by a corporation who helped fund its construction and maintenance in return for the corporation's logos appearing prominently throughout the pavilion. For example, Universe of Energy was sponsored by Exxon from 1982 to 2004, and The Land was sponsored by Kraft from 1982 to 1993, then Nestlé from 1993 to 2009. Each pavilion contains a posh "VIP area" for its sponsor with offices, lounges, and reception areas hidden away from regular park guests. In the years since the park's opening, however, some sponsors have decided that the branding wasn't worth the cost of sponsorship and have pulled out, leaving some of the pavilions without sponsors. Disney prefers to have sponsors helping to pay the bills, so pavilions without sponsors have an uncertain future. After General Electric left Horizons in 1993, it closed for a couple of years, then reopened temporarily while neighboring attractions Universe of Energy and World of Motion were renovated. Horizons closed permanently on January 9, 1999 and was demolished in the summer of 2000 to make room for the opening of Mission: SPACE on October 9, 2003. Metlife sponsored Wonders of Life from 1989 to 2001, until that area was closed. However, the Wonders Of Life pavilion is still mostly intact and is used for both the Flower and Garden Festival and the Food and Wine Festival. Test Track opened in the World of Motion pavilion and is still sponsored by General Motors. Mission: SPACE is sponsored by Hewlett-Packard. Spaceship Earth was sponsored by Bell System from 1982 to 1984, then AT&T (Bell System's parent company, following the Bell System Divestiture) from 1984 until 2003. It was not sponsored between 2003 and 2005. It is now sponsored by Siemens.

World Showcase

World Showcase contains pavilions representing eleven countries—click on the links below for more information about each. In clockwise order, the pavilions are:

Mexico
Norway
China
Germany
Italy
The American Adventure
Japan
Morocco
France
United Kingdom
Canada

Of the eleven pavilions, Norway and Morocco were not present at the park's opening, and were added later. Each of these contains representative shops and restaurants and is staffed by citizens of these countries, as part of the Cultural Representative Program. Some also contain rides and shows. The only pavilion that is sponsored by the country it represents is Morocco. The remaining country pavilions are all sponsored by private companies.

Pavilions for Russia, Switzerland, Spain, Venezuela, United Arab Emirates, and Israel have never made it past the planning phase to date. An Equatorial Africa pavilion was planned but never built. It would have featured a large African presentation film hosted by Alex Haley. A small African themed refreshment stop is now in its place, known as the Outpost. After Disney's Animal Kingdom—an African-and-Asian-themed animal preserve and park—opened, any plans for an African Pavilion were dropped.

The World Showcase usually opens two hours after park opening and remains open later than the Future World section of the park; however, most major attractions in Future World including Test Track, Soarin', Mission Space, The Seas with Nemo and Friends, and Spaceship Earth remain open until park close.

There is an entrance to the park between the France and United Kingdom Pavilions known as the International Gateway. Guests staying in a number of the Epcot Resorts and guests coming from Disney's Hollywood Studios can access this gate by walkway or boat.

EPCOT 1978 Preview Video:

EPCOT Opening Ceremony:

Behind the Scenes with Danny Kaye and the Opening of EPCOT Center

2012-09-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

Jim Korkis recently did a wonderful piece on Danny Kaye and the opening of EPCOT. Good ol' Danny wasn't all laughs and smiles it seems behind camera. Continue after the page break and have a look...

Beginning in the 1960s, Smith-Hemion were award-winning producers of musical specials for television, featuring such stars as Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand (My Name is Barbra, 1965), Bette Midler, Julie Andrews, Elvis Presley and more. They had worked with Kaye in a new musical television production for Hallmark Hall of Fame of Peter Pan (1976) featuring Mia Farrow as Peter and Kaye as Captain Hook.

Kaye was one of the most popular entertainers of his time. He received many accolades for his work as an actor, singer, dancer and comic. He was also a celebrated chef and airplane pilot. In 1954 Kaye began his long association with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and that same year won a special Academy Award for his humanitarian work.

Despite his well-loved films from the 1940s and 1950s and Emmy award-winning television series in the 1960s, his general popularity as a performer began to fade during the mid-1970 as he devoted more and more time to other pursuits. He died in 1987.

Kaye appeared in the made-for-TV Smith-Hemion-produced special, "Kraft Salutes Disneyland's 25th Anniversary" which aired on March 6, 1980.

Filmed throughout Disneyland to celebrate the park's 25th anniversary, a young boy (Adam Rich) takes his first ever trip to Disneyland and encounters many odd characters (all played by Danny Kaye) who tell him about the park's history.

So it was not unusual that Smith-Hemion thought of using the multi-talented performer again two years later to host the opening of EPCOT Center.

On camera, Kaye seems enthusiastic, playful and generally delightful. However, even the very best of performers known for their very public charitable work, can have a bad couple of days. Working on the special celebrating the opening of EPCOT Center, Kaye was not as affable off screen as he appeared on camera.

Bob Woodham was the first Monorail pilot hired in August 1971 for the Magic Kingdom. By 1982, he was in the role of Operations Coordinator and assigned to assist with the Epcot television special:

"Kaye was a problem right from the beginning," Woodham remembered. "I got a call from his agent declaring that Kaye had to have a limousine. Remember, this was Central Florida in the early 1980s, so there were not a lot of options around. I did manage to get a brand new Cadillac limousine and informed the agent. A little while later I get back a phone call with the guy saying, 'A Cadillac is completely unacceptable for Mr. Kaye. He has to have a Mercedes.' I had to tell him that they had two choices: take the Cadillac or nothing."
"Do you remember that scene in Future World where Kaye is with Drew Barrymore and in the background there are some guests? We had roped off a huge area so the guests were nowhere near them but could still be seen in the background. Anyway, Kaye starts his lines and the people just got so excited, they started snapping pictures. Kaye abruptly turns to them and yells, 'I don't go to your work and interrupt you!' Bob Matheison was a vice-president and was a great guy. He told me, 'We are going to keep roping off areas, not to keep the guests away from Kaye but to keep him away from the guests.'

"The final shot done which was the first used on the special was Kaye on top of the American Gardens Theater. We got one of those trucks with a bucket to take him up so he didn't have to climb or walk. We had this trailer for him out in the back of the American Adventure and a golf cart to ferry him from the trailer to onstage where the bucket was. It was just a quick, short shot.'

"It was a light sprinkle, what I would call just misting, but Kaye didn't stop complaining. If you look, you see a huge uncomplaining crowd beneath and behind him. His cart was parked by the truck and by a wall with some bushes. While he was up top doing his intro which lasted a minute or two, Ron Miller came by in another golf cart with Lillian Disney. They parked nearby and Lillian stayed in the cart while Ron got out to take care of some business. Kaye comes down, gets in his cart and yells "Who the f*** is this blocking me in? I am getting wet!" Ron runs over and tells him, 'Get your ass back to your trailer and be off property by tomorrow morning.'

"Then there is the great story where Kaye is directing the West Point Glee Club and Dick Nunis shows up touring some executives from a foreign country and Kaye moons him while the singers are laughing. I didn't notice it at first but my assistant nudged me and it was pretty obvious. Nunis never saw or never acknowledged that he saw it.'

"Nunis hated the Smith-Hemion people. Absolutely hated them and I could understand why. Nunis was never shown the script and had no OK over it even though he was in charge of the Disney parks. Sometimes, they would do things that might put Disney in a bad light or have the person playing the cast member do something wrong, like a server tipping over a tray of food and drink.'

"Nunis was especially upset with the Smith-Hemion production Kraft Salutes Walt Disney World's 10th Anniversary that ran in January 1982. It had Michael Keaton as this long-haired, incompetent, snarky cast member doing things a cast member would never have been allowed to do, including having long hair and trying to pick up on barely legal Dana Plato. Nunis was still steaming from that special when the Epcot thing got underway.'

"Here's an example of how upset he was. Marie Osmond was in the Epcot special and she was a doll. Everyone loved her and she had just discovered she was pregnant so between breaks with the dancers, she sat in a chair with an umbrella and was knitting.

"During one of the breaks, the cast members were given their opening day medallions and she saw them. She said, "I'd love to have one of those. I would be willing to buy it.' I found out that Nunis was in charge of the medallions so I went to his office and told him that Marie would like one and had offered to pay for it and he hit the roof. 'This is a trick! Smith-Hemion want it and they are not going to get it!' So I had a long discussion with Dick and finally convinced him to begrudgingly give me an extra one for Marie. As I was leaving the office, he said, 'If I find out it ended up with Smith-Hemion, I will track you down and kick your ass!' Marie was very nice and appreciative.'

"I did have to clean up my language a little to tell these stories."

Ron Miziker has a long list of accomplishments in his still thriving entertainment career. He joined the Disney Company as director of Entertainment and Show Development shortly before the opening of Walt Disney World. He was responsible for the elaborate October 25 dedication ceremony of the Magic Kingdom in 1971. He was also the producer of the EPCOT Center television special.

"At one point during the shooting, I was standing right next to Kaye who was waiting to make his entrance," Miziker told me. "This sweet little old lady came up and said, 'Mr. Kaye I have loved your work for so long. I'm a big fan. Is it all right if I get a picture with you?' Kaye took her camera, threw it down to the ground and then stepped on it and walked away without saying anything.'

"Yes, Nunis really hated [director and producer] Dwight Hemion. Nunis was also angry at the reports he was getting about Kaye's behavior. He was so angry that he insisted that Kaye not set foot on Disney property ever again. However, I needed Kaye back on property to finish filming a scene where he is conducting the West Point Glee Club and the All-American College Marching Band. So I had to call Ron Miller to get permission to get Kaye back on property.'

"So I am in this area near the fountain with Spaceship Earth in the background and Kaye is on a raised platform. Nunis storms in and is really steamed that Kaye is there. He comes up to me and starts poking his finger in my chest and his back is to Kaye.'

"Nunis yells at me, 'You are ruining this park letting that b*st*rd in here!'

"Kaye drops his pants. He is in his skivvies and he is pretending to conduct the band and the singers. He is bending over, mooning Nunis who is so intent in chewing me out that he does not even glance behind him. The performers start giggling and then laughing.'

"I am looking at Nunis and not saying anything but I can see all of this going on behind him. When Nunis finishes, he is so upset that he storms away without ever looking behind him to see Kaye or what he was doing."

There could be any number of reasons that some people didn't think that Kaye was as gracious as his screen persona or misinterpreted his behavior. Unfortunately, like much of Disney history, many of the principal players involved including Kaye and Hemion are not longer around to share their side of the story. If Kaye was out of sorts doing the special, it certainly wasn't evident in the final show.

A Fantastic Look Inside Imagineering

2012-09-21T19:49:00.002-07:00

Going inside of Disney's Imagineering building is a rare occurrence. Thanks to the recent Maker Camp, today we get a rare look inside. Continue after the page break and have a look...

Maker Camp is a month-long virtual DIY camp put on by Maker Faire. Hundreds of teens participate and learn about science, technology, engineering, and math and how to put them together to make useful things. These lucky kids recent got a virtual field trip that included a tour of Walt Disney Imagineering’s facilities and time with Imagineers like Bruce Vaughn.

During the tour students and other viewers got a glimpse at some of the unique and innovative processes Imagineers use during the design phase of their projects. The fields of dimensional design (model-making, sculpting and rapid-prototyping), robotics design and programming, ride design, and previsualization (virtual experiences of yet-to-be-built attractions and facilities) were the main focus. At the end of the tour students were able to ask Bruce and other Imagineers a few questions. Here now is the hour long webcast, Enjoy!

The "World" That Roy Built

2012-09-16T16:46:00.000-07:00

It was a sunny, crisp October day in Florida, thousands were gathered and anxiously awaiting to see what the Disney brother's second park had to offer. Roy O. Disney, at 78 years old and brother of the amazing Walt Disney who had died nearly five years earlier, stood stiffly next to the flagpole in the town square of Main Street U.S.A. with Mickey Mouse clenching his hand and standing by his side. Mickey was perhaps the next best thing to his late brother standing next to him and even allowed him to take the stage. You see just moments before, Roy sat on a bench as the clock was ticking for the dedication ceremony to start.

The park needed to be dedicated on live TV, but Roy wouldn't get up. "I can't do this without my brother" he was overheard saying. A cast member thinking quickly ran to get Mickey Mouse. Eventually Roy took Mickey's hand, walked on stage, and in his strong Midwestern accent and tenor voice, he read off the dedication plaque: “Walt Disney World is a tribute to the philosophy and life of Walter Elias Disney…”

Walt Disney World is really a tribute to two brothers. Walt may have dreamed castles but it was Roy who got them built. Roy was the one who, in his 70s, with a longing to retire and travel, wrestled with heat, humidity, swamp land, construction delays and finances to make Walt’s last dream a reality.
From the October 1972 Walt Disney Productions’ publication titled, The National Champion: A Report to Participants in Disneyland and Walt Disney World:

“Of the thousands of persons responsible for the creation of Walt Disney World, no one played a more important role than the late Roy O. Disney. Long known as the behind-the-scenes financial genius, he was thrust into the leadership role by the untimely passing of his brother Walt Disney in 1966. Throughout the busy years that followed, Roy devoted nearly all his time and energy to bringing Walt’s dream to reality. It was a dream that was staggeringly complex…and yet with Roy’s guidance, it did indeed become a reality…”

During October 1966, two months before Walt died, at a luncheon with Walt, his brother Roy and other Disney Company executives, Billy Dial (chairman of the First National Bank of Orlando and the power broker who helped the Disney Company make the connections for the Florida Project) asked Walt what would be the fate of the Florida project if he got hit by a truck after lunch? Walt replied, “Absolutely nothing. My brother Roy runs this company. I just piddle around.”

No one really believed that answer of course and most people regarded Roy as merely the quiet, unassuming businessman who was firm but fair and aggressively avoided the spotlight for decades. An early home movie of a sandlot baseball game at the Hyperion Disney Studio in the 1930s shows Walt proudly and prominently up at bat, even though the film demonstrates his lack of athletic prowess. Whenever the cameraman turns his movie camera toward Roy standing nearby, Roy quietly and quickly moves out of frame whenever he is aware he is being filmed.

One week after Walt Disney died, Roy spoke to a group of Disney Company executives and creative staff in a projection room at the Disney Studio. He was going to postpone his retirement. “We are going to finish this park, and we’re going to do it just the way Walt wanted it,” Roy firmly stated. “Don’t you ever forget it. I want every one of you to do just exactly what you were going to do when Walt was alive.”

One of his first decisions was that the Disneyworld project would be officially renamed “Walt Disney World.” Roy was insistent that people be reminded that this was Walt’s project. Very few others in the company agreed with that choice because of marketing reasons.

In a meeting, someone referred to it as “Disneyworld” and Roy’s hand went to his glasses as he focused on the offending word: “I’m only going to say this one more time. I want it called ‘Walt Disney World.’ Not Disney World, not Disneyland East, not anything else. Walt Disney World.”
Others tried to convince Roy to build the Magic Kingdom at the intersection of I-4 and 192 since the roads were already in place and it would temporarily eliminate the additional cost of building roads and canals. Walt’s plan was to have the theme park at the top of the property so that guests would experience the rest of the area on their way to the park rather than merely stopping at the front of the property.

Roy told the financial people, “I want to continue with Walt’s plan. So let’s quit wasting time on these meetings.”

As Roy O. Disney stood on the marshy ground of Walt Disney World, all that could be seen were black water swamps often choked with decaying, tangled roots that would have to be removed, barren dunes of white sand, and an occasional grove of pine trees. There were a handful of tethered gas balloons of different colors that also dotted the landscape to indicate the height and location of things to come like Cinderella Castle.

Roy knew he was not as charismatic as his younger brother, nor as creative. He surrounded himself with a talented group of men to make Walt’s dream a reality. On the creative end, he deferred to Dick Irvine of WED who had also been instrumental in the creation of Disneyland. On the construction end, he relied heavily on Joe Fowler and Joe Potter whose military background and “can do” attitudes were invaluable to transform the frightening wilderness into a civilization under a nearly impossible deadline.

Roy devoted much of his time to his area of expertise: finance. Escalating costs, labor challenges, and even the most effective way to raise the almost four hundred million dollars needed for the largest private construction project in the world were handled by Roy with a skill that would have eluded anyone else. However, even while delegating authority to others, Roy was clearly in command and he was the one who made the final decisions.

“Without Roy, (Walt Disney World) wouldn’t have happened,” Jack Lindquist who was then a marketing director told writer Bob Thomas, “Everyone else was so in awe of Walt that they could not step forward and take his place. It took a Disney to do it and that was Roy.”

It was Roy who proposed to the Disney Board of Directors having Card Walker and Donn Tatum become executive vice-presidents and assume some of his managerial duties to effect a smooth transition for when Walt Disney World opened. Roy planned to retire and travel.

Originally, on his trips to Orlando, Roy stayed at the Hilton Inn South near International Drive. Later, he and his wife lived in a cottage at Bay Hill, next door to Joe Fowler. Roy would work long hours during the day and at night accompanied by his wife, he would browse through the local stores. Reportedly, tool counters in stores especially fascinated him. There were five cottages allocated for Disney executives and sometimes there would be backyard cookouts to boost morale for the displaced Californians.

Roy told reporters, “Walt had this idea [for Walt Disney World]. My job all along was to help Walt do the things he wanted to do. He did the dreaming. I did the building.”

Walt Disney World opened on October 1, 1971. The entire month of October was promoted as “Preview Month” with the official dedication scheduled as a three day event from October 23-25, 1971.

At the dedication, Roy was asked by reporters why a grandfather had felt the obligation to tackle this impossible project at this point in his life. Roy smiled, “I didn’t want to have to explain to Walt when I saw him again why the dream didn’t come true.”

Later, Roy spent time in a boat on the Seven Seas Lagoon in front of the Magic Kingdom and when asked why he wasn’t in the park to handle all the media attention, Roy quietly remarked, “Today is my brother’s day. I want them to remember my brother today.”

When the television special, The Grand Opening of Walt Disney World aired on NBC on Friday October 29, 1971, Roy sat next to his wife Edna in their Bay Hill house and began weeping.

Roy returned to California and never came back to Florida. He had planned to stay in California only until February 1st for the annual meeting and then with his wife get on a cruise ship for Australia for a few weeks and make plans for additional travel.

Roy had complained for some time about seeing something like a cloud over his vision but delayed going in for blood tests, assuming he just needed a new prescription for his glasses.

Roy Disney fell into a coma on Sunday, December 19, 1971 and was rushed to a hospital. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage on Monday night, December 20, 1971 in Room 421 at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Burbank, California at the age of seventy-eight. It was the same hospital where he had sobbed uncontrollably at the loss of his younger brother a half decade earlier.

Flags flew at half staff over Walt Disney World on that Tuesday in honor of Roy but both Disneyland and Walt Disney World remained open for business. “When Walt died,” said Jack Lindquist, “Roy said a lot of people had come from a lot of different places that day to see Disneyland. And he felt it was the only way to do business.”

Reporter Charlie Wadsworth wrote an article in the December 22, 1971, edition of The Orlando Sentinel: “It was Roy Disney’s guidance and leadership that brought Walt Disney World to its opening. He was completely dedicated to building the dreams of his brother Walt. They say a little of Roy left when Walt died in 1966 of cancer. But not much could have left. He was the keeper of the flame and had to be the curator of the spirit that Walt Disney created. He inherited the Disney entertainment empire. It was difficult for his neighbors in Windermere to grow accustomed to the fact that the little round, balding man with the twinkling eyes and inquisitive nature was the chairman of the board. But that’s the way Roy Disney wanted it. That is the way he lived…[he] was a man of great personal warmth and charm, as personable as his late brother Walt.”

Disney Legend Blaine Gibson talks about the “Sharing the Magic” statue of Roy O. Disney that sits by the flagpole in Town Square underneath the shadow of Roy’s name on the upper window of the confectionery shop.

“Roy is sitting back in the bench which indicates he was there first and Minnie came to him, not that he came up to her to ask why she was sitting down and not working,” laughed Blaine who based the pose on photographs taken of Roy in the park in October 1971. “Also he is holding her hand underneath so he is supporting it, just like he always supported Walt’s dreams.”

Roy was a modest man and, when he died, little was known of his accomplishments, especially in comparison to his brother, Walt. Roy was the man who built Walt Disney World without a cent of debt and made sure his brother's dream became a reality for the entire world to enjoy. Thanks Roy!

Roy Disney's opening day speech:

Disney's Biggest Fan?

2012-09-02T04:00:00.001-07:00

For years George Reiger filled a gaping hole in his heart with a love for all things Disney. He's collected several thousands pieces of Disney memorabilia ;and he even had 2,200 individual Disney-related tattoos inked on his body. Is George Reiger Disney's biggest fan? Continue after the page break and you decide...

George Reiger considers himself Disney’s number one fan and to prove it, he has covered most of his body with over 2,200 Disney tattoos.

When people ask George Reiger why he has 2,200 tattoos relating to Disney, his answers that Disney practically raised him when he was a child and he wanted to have Mickey and the entire Magical Kingdom with him everywhere he went. George had his first tattoo, Fantasia Mickey, when he was just 18 years old. By the time he turned 20, he already had 80 Disney tattoos.

That’s when he went to the company’s owners and asked them for permission to have even more characters permanently inked on his skin. Disney agreed to let him become a walking Disney canvas, as long as he used just one tattoo artist for every one of his tattoos and didn’t make any money from them. He agreed and now his body is covered about 85% with Disney characters and settings. He has 4-5 new tattoos done every week.

To George Reiger, nothing is more important than Disney. That’s probably why he’s currently at wife number 6, with all six honeymoons spent at Walt Disney World. He lives in a Disney-themed house, full of over 24,000 Disney collector’s items.

He admits that it’s pretty bizarre for a 50-year-old man to be covered in tattoos of children’s characters, but this is what makes him happy. He spends around $50,000 on Disney every year and when he dies, he wants his ashes spread over the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, so he can live in Walt Disney World forever.

The Story of Disney's Morgue

2012-08-30T20:51:00.000-07:00

With low ceilings, pipes of every shape and size, and hidden rooms adjoining the long hallways, the morgue's underground location is a fitting backdrop for a creepy movie.

It’s a place on The Walt Disney Studios Lot that even on the warmest of days will give you goose bumps. Beneath the Studio’s courtyards, streets, and brick-and-mortar buildings is a maze of concrete corridors originally constructed to house and maintain plumbing and electrical systems. There’s even a passageway that leads from the Animation Building to the Ink & Paint Building, which in the early days of the Studio during inclement weather was used to transport animation cels from one building to another. Continue after the pagebreak for an underground look at Disney's Morgue...

A handwritten sign guides you through the tunnels below the Walt Disney Studios to "The Morgue," a place that used to house the research and art from Disney films.

The Walt Disney Studios was originally built to be Walt Disney’s ultimate creative complex for animation, and some of the most iconic Disney animated films of all time have been produced there—Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and many, many others. But when the films wrapped, all the creative inspiration, research, concept art, and animation had to be shelved somewhere to make room for the next project. A set of rooms beneath the Ink & Paint Building, which had just enough room to store everything, became that work’s final resting place.

"In our morgue, these shelves, tables, and file cabinets hold all our history as a motion picture studio," Walt said in an episode of Disneyland.

Walt visited the morgue in the September 25, 1957 Disneyland television series episode “Adventure in Wildwood Heart.” “In our morgue, these shelves, tables, and file cabinets hold all our history as a motion picture studio,” he says in the episode, which you can see for yourself in the Walt Disney’s Legacy Collection, True-Life Adventures series, Volume 4: Nature’s Mysteries. “Here are the drawings, models, sketches, and backgrounds for every film we’ve ever made,” Walt points out in the introduction. “In these file cabinets are research materials of every kind and description. This room represents the repository, the well of our experience. And experience is the key to progress.” He then goes on to introduce A True-Life Fantasy: Perri, about the life of a squirrel in the forest and the only True-Life Fantasy ever produced.

While most morgues house dead bodies, the Walt Disney Studios morgue was home to retired research and artwork in the hope it would inspire future artists. ”They called it a morgue because that was a newspaper term for used, but still useable material such as photographs, back issues, and clippings,” says Fox Carney, manager, Research, Animation Research Library. “They probably took that from being familiar from the newspaper industry and terminology. The morgue wasn’t where things went to die. It was based upon what was used in the production for what was reusable or used for inspiration.” The Disney morgue housed ghosts of animation. Each file in the rows of shelves and cabinets had imprints of the past. And if you were to study the brush strokes and the textures of each piece of artwork long enough, the Studio felt, you could get a feel for how the original animator created the piece.

The underground walkway as it appeared in 2009

The morgue lost its name and cozy underground location in 1989, when it was moved to a larger Glendale facility, but you can still visit its original location (it’s now home to a copy center and some janitorial offices) on the Studio Lot today by walking down a long flight of stairs on the north side of the Ink & Paint Building and navigating a few corners of underground hallways. Though the maquettes, backgrounds, paintings and animation sketches are now long gone, safely stored in the state-of-the-art Disney Animation Research Library in Glendale, the spirit of the Walt Disney Studios morgue lives on today in the way Disney continues to build on the creative energy of the past. Fox sums it up nicely: “For Disney to invest the resources it takes into preserving and maintaining the art shows the commitment the Company has to its legacy.” And there is nothing scary about preserving such a rich, inspiring, and amazing history.

Walt Disney's New Tomorrowland 67'

2012-08-29T12:58:00.000-07:00

Walt Disney was known for his futurist views and, through his television programs, showed the American public how the world was moving into the future. Tomorrowland was the realized culmination of his views. Walt once stated: "Tomorrow can be a wonderful age. Our scientists today are opening the doors of the Space Age to achievements that will benefit our children and generations to come. The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future." Continue after the page break for a look back at the most exciting celebration since Disneyland’s opening day July 17, 1955...Walt Disney's New Tomorrowland 67'....

New Tomorrowland Concept Art

As the present began to catch up to the future, Tomorrowland became mired in the past. It was time for Walt to get his beloved Tomorrowland back up to par. It began to be referred to as the “New Tomorrowland” and was a long time in the making. The original Tomorrowland offerings of 1955 were extremely sparse and outdated. The Autopia became everyone’s favorite attraction in Tomorrowland and for years Walt Disney felt the under-funded land was not quite complete. Walt and his creative people had in mind a much more elaborate and futuristic land.

Pre-1967 Tomorrowland

Several new attractions opened in 1955. Among them were Tomorrowland Boats, The World Beneath Us, which showed the Earth's geology, and the Aluminum Hall of Fame, sponsored by Kaiser Aluminum. The final Tomorrowland attraction to open in 1955 was The Flight Circle which demonstrated gasoline powered vehicles.

Tomorrowland 1950's

In 1956, Tomorrowland Boats were renamed Phantom Boats, and were closed later in the year. Dutch Boy Color Gallery opened in 1956, and sponsored Dutch Boy Paint. Two major attractions opened in 1956: the Astro Jets, where guests were able to fly their own rockets, and Skyway to Fantasyland, where guests rode "Buckets" over to Fantasyland.

Tomorrowland 56' feat. Skyway and Astro Jets

In 1957, the Monsanto House of the Future, a plastic house with four wings cantilevered from a central plinth, was built. This was similar to precursors at previous World's Fairs, though those were simply homes furnished with modern conveniences and aimed at housewives. Disneyland's attraction displayed conveniences such as picture phones and television remote controls, and it introduced many people to their first microwave oven. The Viewliner also opened where guests could ride in "the fastest miniature train in the world." It closed the next year making it the shortest lived Disney attraction ever.

Monsanto House of the Future

The Matterhorn Bobsleds, the Disneyland Monorail System, and Submarine Voyage Thru Liquid Space were all added to the land in 1959 and was the greatest expansion Disneyland had seen up until that point. There was only one problem, the bulk of Tomorrowland remained the same. By the mid-60s Walt was ready to move on to more long lasting, exciting things. His fascination with transportation and a need for more rides led to the clean and uniform new design of a Tomorrowland that explored science and the universe of the future. It was given a theme nicknamed called “World on the Move”.

Transportation in America during the 1960's was an important issue. Cities were growing more populated and more people were moving to the suburbs. Freeways were being introduced throughout the country and air travel was becoming more common. The first jumbo jet, the Boeing 747, was soon to take flight and the first manned trip to the moon was just around the corner. Walt Disney had commuted from his home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Holmby Hills to both Disneyland in Anaheim and to The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank. He was working with the Ford Motor Company to build a pavilion at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. He had flown all over the world for both business and for leisure. Keep in kind he was also secretly flying to and from Florida in preparation for the Florida Project so transportation was on his mind as it was a big part of his daily life.

Walt Disney’s biggest ambition at the time was to build his prototype community called E.P.C.O.T. (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) on his newly-acquired property in Florida. Transportation was a major focus of E.P.C.O.T. and it was only logical to test new transportation systems at Disneyland prior to building them in the city. Smaller-scale systems began to double as theme park attractions at the park...what better place is there?

Walt test riding a early version of the PeopleMover

The mid-60s were by far the most exciting times for Walt Disney and his entertainment projects. This had to be an amazing time for Walt. I could only imagine the euphoric feeling he must have experienced each day upon waking up knowing all the wonderful projects that needed his attention. Although several of his dreams had, Walt wouldn't simply let his imagination rest. There were so many amazing things in the works and I like to think of this time as being Walt's and his company's Golden Years. Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion attractions were in development, the still-secret Florida plans were becoming ever more complex, the four World’s Fair attractions required tremendous time and resources. Plans for the New Tomorrowland required an almost unattainable amount of advanced technology, mainly the computer technology needed for Space Port later named Space Mountain.

Then came late 1966, the saddest day in the companies history, at the helm of all these enormous endeavors, Walt dies at age 65. Walt had lived to experience the World’s Fair attractions he created, but Pirates, Mansion, and the New Tomorrowland had all opened after his death. His marvelous and ambitious E.P.C.O.T. sadly never came to be, however, despite Walt’s passing, construction on the New Tomorrowland continued to move forward.

New Tomorowland Construction

New Tomorrowland Complete

Visible from Disneyland’s central hub were Tomorrowland’s two shiny silver spires which drew your eye from the horizon up to outer space and back down to earth again. A similar effect happened with the main Flight to the Moon sign further west. Below your feet the sidewalks were a beautiful blue. Above you, PeopleMover vehicles traveled smoothly and quietly along a long slender track held up by modern-looking support beams. The PeopleMovers weaved in and out of every Tomorrowland building. A 90-foot rocket atop the PeopleMover station with 12 tiny rockets revolving around it grabbed your attention and drew you further into the land (Walt’s idea). Two deep black cube-like structures turned 45° with raised silver lettering invited you into the new Adventure Thru Inner Space and the CircleVision attractions. Mary Blair’s masterpiece murals added a warm color palette and a charming human touch to both sides of the the main walkways into the land. Soon you would come upon on the many organized and futuristic “levels” made up of the PeopleMover track, Rocket Jets, Skyway buckets, and the 1959 attractions, Matterhorn, Monorail, Submarines. Two entertainment stages offered a variety of musical performances. One of the covered stages slowly and dramatically rose up from out of the ground. The entire first floor of the new round Carousel of Progress building rotated. And at night the charm was even greater. Wonderful lighting set a mood like no other part of Disneyland.

Tomorrowland became the most popular land at Disneyland and a decade later its popularity exploded once again with the opening of Space Mountain and the elaborate complex that surrounded it. A wide variety of themes were presented such as inner space, outer space, liquid space, progression of electricity, transportation, etc. yet everything was presented in a non-conflicting way. The “story” of each attraction was presented little-by-little as you approached each non-tacky, non-cluttered entrance. Upon entering, the “theme” was added upon in subtle yet effective ways. Once further inside, you were entirely immersed n the experience. The same experience happened in reverse as you made your way out the exit. Walt got his Tomorrowland and in time got his space-travel version of his beloved Matterhorn.

Tomorrowland 1967 Broadcast:

Making of: Rock'n'Roller Coaster

2012-08-23T04:00:00.000-07:00

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith is an enclosed steel roller coaster ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort and at the Walt Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Paris. The Florida attraction opened on July 29, 1999 and is located at the end of Sunset Boulevard, next to The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror attraction. Rock 'n' Roller Coaster is the ride that finally shunned the princess loving meet and greet goers and allowed the adrenaline junkies to put the "petal to the metal" quite literally. Continue after the page break for the Making of: Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith...

The coaster accelerates from 0 to 57 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds (making this the second-fastest attraction at the Walt Disney World Resort, behind only Test Track and the fastest ride at Disneyland Paris). The riders experience 4.5g as they enter the first inversion, more than an astronaut does on a space shuttle launch. Both versions of the attraction feature five trains, although only four can run at one time. The remaining train is kept in backup while being serviced (each train is rotated out periodically for safety reasons).

After winding through a shaded outdoor queue, guests enter the offices and recording studios of record label G-Force Records whose lobby is decorated with posters of real acts signed to labels owned by The Walt Disney Company. Next, guests are led into a room looking into the recording studio, where the five members of Aerosmith are shown finishing a recording session. The group's manager, portrayed by Illeana Douglas, enters and informs them that they're late for a concert. Lead singer Steven Tyler expresses regret at being forced to leave the band's fans and requests backstage passes for the entire group. The band then departs by limousine to "the Forum" (a reference to a famous Los Angeles concert venue). The harried manager summons a "super stretch" limo, to carry guests to the concert and directs them outside. The pacing of the film is such that there is brief pause between the time that the band mentions to their manager that they should do something for their fans and Steven Tyler agreeing. The interval of time is just long enough that the line "How about some backstage passes" can be shouted from the audience (often by the cast member who is acting as the tour's "host"), making it appear that the band takes the suggestion, which is also echoed by a band mate. Steven Tyler's next line is "Wait a minute, I love that idea. How about some backstage passes?" Guests exit the recording studio and pass through an alley into a parking garage, owned by "Lock 'n' Roll Parking Systems". In here, guests waiting in line can see the ride's launch and sharp-eyed guests can spot the curtains in above 'apartment windows', sway from the 'force', caused by the launch. Guests then board a waiting 24 seat stretch limo for the trip across town to the concert.

After loading passengers, the "limo" stops at the entrance to a tunnel. Music is playing and an overhead variable message sign displays a series of several different messages until a countdown. After the countdown, the car is then shot into the tunnel at 57 miles per hour and the souvenir photo is taken. The roller coaster goes through two inversions, one of which are roll-overs and one of which is a corkscrew on a winding track, intended to represent various Los Angeles Area Freeways, including Interstate 5, Interstate 10 and U.S. Route 101, as evident by the street signs that periodically appear on the side of the coaster. The attraction ends when the limo arrives at Aerosmith's concert backstage, letting guests off onto a red carpet. While considered "extreme", Rock 'n' Roller Coaster has been described by roller coaster enthusiasts as being smoother, less jerky and less uncomfortable than some similar extreme roller coasters.

Contruction photos (the track was built before the building that surrounds it today):

Cast member previews for the ride were initially held the last week of June, 1999. On 29 July 1999, the ride officially opened with a special, invitation-only party, with Aerosmith as the guests of honor. Winners rode to Disney's Hollywood Studios in stretch limousines and were treated to an all-you-can-eat buffet and bar. After a special performance by painter Denny Dent, winners got the chance to ride the roller coaster with one of the Aerosmith band members. At the exit of the ride, outside of the gift shop, there hangs a picture from the special event. The paintings Denny Dent made of the five band members hang in various employee office locations on Walt Disney World property. The pre-show has changed from when the attraction first opened. Currently, band member Joe Perry would ask "Chris" to "grab my black Les Paul." A Disney cast member in the pre-show area would then pick up and remove a black guitar signed by Joe Perry from the set. The script uses the unisex name "Chris" so either a male or female could play the part. Although not used as often as when the ride first opened, the position is still used from time to time (generally, if the attraction is overstaffed). The film also includes a roadie saying "Hey Joe, I'll get it for ya" as a backup, in the event that a cast member is not available for the part. In 2007, the queue was modified to accommodate single riders in addition to FASTPASS.

There are five speakers per seat, a total of 120 per limo. Aerosmith worked with Disney Imagineers to produce a special soundtrack for the roller coaster. Each coaster train features different Aerosmith songs.

The songs heard to each ride contain some new lyrics written specifically for the attraction. (Love in an Elevator is sung as "Love in a roller coaster," for example.)
Songs heard on each car -Note: Updated Jan 2008 after 2007 refurbishment (Car license plate)
- 1QKLIMO: "Nine Lives"
- UGOBABE: "Love in an Elevator" & "Walk This Way" (Formally UGOGIRL Pre-2004 Refurbishment)
- BUHBYE: "Young Lust", "F.I.N.E.*" & "Love in an Elevator"
- H8TRFFC: "Back in the Saddle" & "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)"
- 2FAST4U: "Sweet Emotion"(live)

There is a 6th Limo in the fleet of ride vehicles of Rock'n'Roller Coaster. This vehicle is without a license plate, and is always "in refurbishment." The vehicles are rotated in and out of use after a period of many thousands of laps around the track. However, the maintenance teams will switch out the plate and add the proper song to the new vehicle every time a rotation is made.
The ride formerly featured Uncle Joe Benson, a well-known Los Angeles, CA rock radio DJ, as the station's DJ. Currently, Bill Hart (known as Bill St. James), the host of ABC Radio's "Flashback", provides the voice for the DJ of "LA's Classic Rock Station".

Disneyland Paris Entrance

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster also exists in Disneyland Paris' Walt Disney Studios Park, named "Rock 'n' Roller Coaster avec Aerosmith". Although the track layout is identical to its Orlando counterpart, the theme of the ride differs—instead of guests being taken on the Los Angeles freeways, the Paris version is based around an Aerosmith music video. Lighting rigs, projectors, strobes, and smoke effects are used in place of the road signs that exist in the U.S. version. The name of the record company is Tour de Force (instead of "G-Force") Records, and the vehicles in Paris are called "Soundtrackers" instead of limousines. The story of the Paris version is that Aerosmith, working with engineers, have created a revolutionary new music experience at the Tour De Force Records studios. After watching the pre-show which features Aerosmith's Steven Tyler hyping up the ride, guests are lured into the testing area where they board the prototype vehicle for the new experience, the Soundtracker. A unique aspect of the Walt Disney Studios version is that each Soundtracker has its own theme. There are five different lightshows and five different soundtracks, one for each Soundtracker. The themes are as follows:

Soundtracker 1: green/yellow lightshow theme; plays "Back In The Saddle" and "Dude Looks Like A Lady".
Soundtracker 2: pink lightshow theme; plays "Young Lust", "F.I.N.E." and "Love In An Elevator".
Soundtracker 3: multicolour lightshow theme; plays "Love In An Elevator" and "Walk This Way".
Soundtracker 4: red/yellow lightshow theme; plays "Nine Lives".
Soundtracker 5: blue lightshow theme; plays "Sweet Emotion (live)".

Hidden Mickeys:

One in the pre-show (found on a small chalkboard in the bottom right corner of the sound room (this one was made by a cast member and changes at times)
One in the pre-show (found on the ground, formed by three coils of wire).
One in place of each "Expiration Date" for the license plates on the limos.
Many on the floor in Studio C, hidden in the carpet pattern.
Two on the ride track itself (one found on a yellow sign behind a red limo, one on the ground in a cityscape area).
Two in the tile mosaic in the rotunda before the recording studio near the marble doors.
One in the post show area to the right as one enters this area.
Many on Steven Tyler's shirt on the poster outside.
One on Joe Perry's medallion on the outside poster.

Disneyland Paris' Making of the attraction video:

Bells Will Be Ringing!!!

2012-08-22T08:53:00.001-07:00

First, I would like to apologize for not having posted anything in awhile; I started a new job recently and have been extremely busy. I have gotten settled in and will be back to my normal 3 posts a week schedule so thanks for checking in from time to time! Its true folks, my fiancé and I have finally set a date to tie the knot! Guess where our honeymoon will be...Disney World of course. We are getting married this October and I have been trying to arrange something unique and special for us while on our honeymoon in the kingdom. I would love some feedback from you guys on ideas. Have you honeymooned at Disney World and, if so, what was special about your trip? Did Disney do anything out of the ordinary for you? Did you spend an evening at a fancy restaurant or location? I would love any and all feedback, stories, and ideas so please leave comments below! Only 2 more months to go...we can't wait!! New posts will continue on schedule tomorrow...Thanks and I look forward to your comments!!

Your Highway In The Sky - The Disney Monorail System

2012-07-13T04:00:00.000-07:00

Disney's Monorail system is one of the things that make a Disney vacation so carefree, relaxing, and magical. Simply put, Disney's Monorail transportation network is among the most efficient, easy to use, and convenient of any mass transit system in the world. The system was a huge undertaking especially at Walt Disney World. The vehicles are always clean, loading and unloading of passengers is simple and well-thought-out, and the wait for transportation (except during the very busiest of times) is minimal. It's hard to over-emphasize the convenience of the internal transportation. Continue after the page break for an in depth look into the history of Walt's beloved monorail system...

I. Disneyland Monorail System:

Walt Disney originally envisioned the monorail as a practical form of public transport for the future. However, the monorail came about during a time when America's—and particularly Los Angeles'—love affair with the automobile was increasing, and monorails in the United States came to be associated only with Disney's theme parks. The Disneyland Monorail System (originally, the Disneyland ALWEG Monorail) opened on June 14, 1959, as a sightseeing attraction in Tomorrowland in Disneyland. The Mark I trains (Red and Blue) consisted of three cars each. With the debut of the four-car Mark II in 1961 (and the new Yellow train), the track was lengthened to leave the park and stop at a station at the Disneyland Hotel. The monorail trains reached their current length of five cars in 1968 with the arrival of the Mark III. More streamlined and efficient than the Mark II, the Mark III also included the arrival of Monorail Green. There were two forms of access to the monorail. Persons who were leaving the park or persons at the hotel who had purchased tickets to enter the park could purchase a single ticket to go to the hotel or from the hotel to the entrance in Tomorrowland, respectively. Persons who had not purchased admission to the park could purchase a ticket to ride the monorail from the hotel station, into the park, and back to the hotel station. To prevent them from entering the park without paying, persons buying a monorail ticket who did not have a park admission would be loaded in a separate compartment which would remain locked until the monorail returned to the hotel.

By the early 1980s, the Mark III trains were showing their age and the wear of years. In 1985, Disneyland began phasing out the Mark III trains one by one. The older trains were stripped to the chassis and rebuilt as Mark V trains. The Mark III Green went first, to become the Mark V Purple followed by the Mark III Yellow becoming the Mark V Orange. The Mark III Blue remained blue (albeit a lighter shade) and the last was Red, remaining Red. The notable difference was the loss of the bubble-top driver's area in favor of a streamlined "Learjet" look similar to the Mark IV trains at the Walt Disney World Resort. The new trains also sported closed passenger compartments (with windows that could be opened) and pneumatic doors. Following the 1985 Disney World monorail fire, a safety handrail was added along the spine of the train, as well as emergency fire exit hatches leading to the roof. The attraction's name remained the "Disneyland Monorail System", as it had been painted on the Mark III trains' skirts. The Mark V trains were built by Ride & Show Engineering, Inc., incorporating bodies that were produced by Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm of Germany. Purple first made her appearance for testing in Autumn of 1986 and began regular operations a few months later. Orange was delivered in late Summer of 1987, followed by Blue in early 1988. The oldest train, Red, was also the last to be removed from the line for refurbishment in the Spring of 1988.

In 1999, the monorail began lengthy periods of closures due to construction of Disney California Adventure, which the monorail beamway passed through. Although the beamway's route was not altered, a significant amount of construction was done around the existing beamway, and much of the terrain under the beamway's support columns was regraded, necessitating the closures. Additionally, the Disneyland Hotel Station was completely demolished and a new station built in the same location. The system began limited operations in 2000, when the Downtown Disney Station became operational, but a significant portion of the beamway was still unusable due to construction. In 2001, the monorail resumed full capacity operations, passing through the new park, as well as the hotel within the park, Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. In 2004, Monorail Orange was removed from the line and taken to Walt Disney Imagineering in Glendale to be reverse engineered. Monorail Blue was removed in September 2006 for rebuilding. The monorail was closed from August 21 through late December 2006 to prepare for the opening of Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in 2007. The refurbishment from Mark V to Mark VII was done one train at a time. The first Mark VII train, Monorail Red, arrived at Disneyland on December 20, 2007. It was originally expected to be in service by the end of February 2008, but due to design change issues, it did not begin serving park guests until July 3, 2008. Mark VII Blue arrived on-site on April 10, 2008, began daytime riderless testing on August 1, 2008, and began guest service on September 16, 2008. Monorail Mark VII Orange arrived on-site on August 14, 2008, began riderless testing in March 2009, and began guest service on April 7, 2009. Monorails Red, Blue, and Orange make up the entire Mark VII fleet. Admission to Disneyland Park must be purchased to ride the monorail.

The Disneyland Monorail has two stations: one in Tomorrowland, and another in the Downtown Disney district. The original Monorail was a round trip ride with no stops. In 1961, the track was expanded to connect to a station at the Disneyland Hotel, making it an actual transportation system. The original Hotel station was torn down in 1999 and a new station, now called the Downtown Disney Station, was built in the same place. All riders must disembark at Tomorrowland Station, and during peak traffic periods, the monorail offers only one-way trips where all passengers must also disembark at the Downtown Disney Station and re-board for the return trip to Tomorrowland. Admission to Disneyland Park must be purchased to ride the monorail. In the fall of 2006, the Tomorrowland Station was remodeled due to the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage construction. The original speed ramps were removed, and a new concrete ramp was added on the east end of the station to handle the queue and access to the station, with concrete stairs on the west end to handle the exiting Monorail passengers.

The monorail travels in one direction only. All passengers board at a single platform. Leaving Tomorrowland station, the monorail crosses the Disneyland Railroad and continues along Harbor Boulevard on the eastern edge of the park. Turning to enter Disney California Adventure, it passes Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! and Muppet*Vision 3D. The track then crosses through the gateway to the Disney California Adventure park. Passengers can see Disneyland Park on the right and Disney California Adventure Park on the left. The monorail then passes through Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa then makes a sharp curve to the right and enters the Downtown Disney station, which has a rainforest theme, covered with several jungle-themed canopies, to complement the adjacent Rainforest Cafe. Downtown Disney station has one platform. After a five-minute loading, the train leaves Downtown Disney and makes a short loop around the district before crossing above the esplanade between the two parks and heads back to Disneyland. Once inside the park, the monorail crosses the railroad again and goes into a series of sharp bends and curves around Tomorrowland. The track travels above the Submarine Lagoon and Autopia. The track actually crosses the lagoon four times and then curves around the Matterhorn Bobsleds, giving a view of Fantasyland, then turns left to reenter the Tomorrowland Station.

All monorails are equipped with Grover 1016 horns. The horn must be sounded when departing a station, at one point where the track parallels the currently-unused PeopleMover/Rocket Rod track, and when approaching the Matterhorn. They are also sounded when a bird lands on the track. The original monorails were equipped with horns that sounded more like real ground-level trains.

Built by ALWEG:

Mark I : 1959 - 1961
- 3-car trains
- colors: red and blue
Mark II - 1961 - 1969(Added with track expansion to Disneyland Hotel)

4-car trains
Bigger dome on top of front car
colors: red, blue and yellow

Built by Walt Disney Imagineering/WED Enterprises:

Mark III : 1969 - 1987
- 5-car trains
- 137 feet long
- colors: red, blue, yellow and green.
Mark V : 1987 - 2008
- 5-car trains
- Designed by Walt Disney Imagineering
- Car bodies built by Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm of Germany
- Seats 24 passengers in each of the five cars, plus 7 passengers in the tail cone, and 5 passengers with 1 driver in the nose cone.
- Total number of passengers per train: 132
- Utilizes Mk III chassis as re-engineered by Ride & Show Engineering, Inc. of San Dimas,CA.
- The Mk V was designed to resemble the appearance of the Mark IV series monorails which were operating in the Walt Disney World Resort.
- colors: red, blue, orange and purple

Built by Dynamic Structures:

Mark VII : 2008–Present
- Sleek/Retro design accomplished by installing a MkIII style nose on the existing MkV trains.
- New island seating configuration, with one row of inward-facing seating at the front and rear ends of each car.
- The main cabins have a capacity of 22 passengers
- The tailcone has a capacity of seven passengers while the nosecone has a capacity of five passengers and a pilot.
- Designed and engineered in-house by Walt Disney Imagineering and TPI Composites
- Colors: Red, Blue, and Orange.
- The first Mark VII monorail, Red, was delivered to Disneyland on December 20, 2007. It began service on July 3, 2008.
- The second Mark VII, Blue, was delivered to Disneyland on April 10, 2008. It began service September 16, 2008.
- The Third Mark VII, Orange, was delivered to Disneyland on August 14, 2008. It began service on April 7, 2009.

II. Walt Disney World Monorail System:

The Original Walt Disney World 10

The Walt Disney World Resort currently operates twelve Mark VI monorail trains on three lines of service. The monorail system opened in 1971 with two routes and with Mark IV monorail trains. It was expanded to three lines in 1982, and switched to Mark VI trains in 1989. The system is the most heavily used monorail system in the world. The Walt Disney World Monorail operates over a span of 14.7 miles, with around 50 million Disney guests traveling on the monorail each year. The three services on two distinct routes on the Walt Disney World Monorail are:

The Express and Resort services on the dual-beam Magic Kingdom route:

Express: Express service between the Magic Kingdom and the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC). Express service runs on the outer loop of this route and travels counter-clockwise.
Resort: Round-trip local service on the inner loop, running clockwise, making stops in order at the Magic Kingdom, Disney's Contemporary Resort, the Transportation and Ticket Center, Disney's Polynesian Resort, and Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.

The single beam Epcot route:

Epcot: Service between the Transportation and Ticket Center and Epcot. Service on this route is a single beam running clockwise on the loop.

A spur track connects the Express and Resort lines to the maintenance shop. Another spur connects the Epcot and Express lines and is located northeast of the Transportation and Ticket Center.

The monorail beams, which are made of concrete with a special polystyrene core to lighten their weight, came by train from Washington. The system opened with the rest of the Walt Disney World Resort on October 1, 1971. It initially featured four stations: the Transportation and Ticket Center, Disney's Polynesian Resort, the Magic Kingdom and Disney's Contemporary Resort. The Epcot line and station were added during that park's construction, opening on October 1, 1982. The most recent addition was the Grand Floridian station, which was opened in 1988 along with the resort hotel.
During the construction of Epcot, Florida residents could request a complimentary ticket for a round-trip on the Epcot line to get a sneak preview of the park.

The modern trains that have been in use since 1989 are each 203 ft 6 in long (consisting of six cars) and can carry 360 passengers. The trains are driven by eight 113 hp motors which are powered by a 600-volt electrical system running through a busbar mounted on each side of the concrete beam. Each train also has seven inverters on board that convert the 600 V DC to 230 V AC for use by the air conditioners and air compressor, and additionally has a battery-backed 37 V DC low-voltage supply that provides power for the train's electronics. The trains are also equipped with a towing knuckle at each end to allow it to be pushed or pulled by a special diesel-powered tractor if need be. Maximum speed during normal operations is 40 mph, with several speed zones throughout the system with limits ranging from 15 to 40 mph. These speed limits are strictly enforced by the train's computer and cannot be overridden without the operator engaging a special lockout. Attempting to drive the train too quickly in a given speed zone will result in an "overspeed stop". Train spacing is maintained by the Moving Blocklight System (MBS), also known as the MAPO system (for "Mary Poppins", U.S. Pat. 3,973,746), which establishes a number of "holdpoints" throughout the system. At any given time, there must be at least two holdpoints between a given train and the train ahead of it. When the train detects that there are fewer than two holdpoints between itself and the preceding train, the emergency brakes are immediately applied and cannot be released until sufficient spacing becomes available or the operator explicitly overrides the system. Failure to maintain adequate spacing is known as an "overrun", and is treated as an extremely serious offense.

The Disney employees that operate monorail trains are called pilots, comprising a distinct and separate department within Disney Transportation. Buses and Watercraft (ferryboats, launches, and cruisers) are the other two departments, and each department is trained and scheduled separately from the others. One employee is scheduled as the central coordinator ("Monorail Central") during each shift. "Central" controls the operation of the entire monorail system, usually by issuing instructions to pilots via radio. Central is responsible for setting up each day's operation in the morning, for handling contingencies and emergencies that occur during the day, and for moving trains off the system after all parks have closed. An employee can act as Central only with a history of safe train operation, the ability to train other monorail pilots, and a rigorous training period during which they must successfully triage and handle simultaneous simulated emergencies. Monorail Central operates out of the glass booth on the Epcot Load platform at the Transportation and Ticket Center. Several qualified coordinators are usually available during each shift that can take over Central's duties if needed.

The original control system served from 1989 with the introduction of Mark VI Blue until June 2007 when the final train, Blue, was converted to the new LMCU2 system.

Mark VI's New Controls

The manager who oversees all monorail operations during a given shift at Walt Disney World is called "Monorail One". This Guest Service Manager (GSM) handles guest matters, including complaints and arrangements for alternative transportation, such as ferry boats or buses, in the event of monorail downtime. Monorail workers refer to the system's stations as follows: "Concourse" includes the load and unload platforms for the Epcot beam at the Transportation and Ticket Center. "Base" includes the platforms for both the Express (the exterior beam) and Resort (the interior beam) beam at the Transportation and Ticket Center; however, the monorail workers refer the Resort side of base as "Base Resort". The stations at the Polynesian, Grand Floridian, Contemporary, at the Magic Kingdom, and at Epcot are named after each location.

The monorail system uses a set of pre-recorded announcements to instruct and entertain passengers. Prior to departure when the pilot closes the doors, an announcement asks guests to "Please stand clear of the doors. Por favor manténganse alejado de las puertas." One of the most known phrases within the resort, it was recorded by Jack Wagner, who was known as "the Voice of Disneyland." In 1988 following the construction of the Grand Floridian Resort stop, Kevin Miles replaced Jack Wagner as the voiceover. Wagner can still be heard today as the "Please stand clear of the doors ..." phrase remains with his voice, partly as it is installed on a separate system. Miles worked in Epcot as part of the 'Voices of Liberty' in the American Adventure pavilion at World Showcase. Sometime before 1998, Disney employee Matt Hanson replaced Kevin Miles, and in 2004 Hanson was replaced by Joe Hursh. Hanson is still with the Walt Disney Company. During the system's early years, the trains featured Wagner's narration of the sights and scenery along the way, as well as information on special events, the resort, and the monorail system itself. Disney monorail workers refer to these narrations as "spiels." On April 13th, 2012 at around 5:00 EST, Disney activated a newer version of the spiel on the monorails that features a new narrator. The new narrator is Tom Kane.

Jack Wagner "the Voice of Disneyland"

The Monorail Shop is Disney's monorail maintenance facility located a short distance northeast of the Magic Kingdom, and provides space for up to nine of the twelve Mark VI trains on its upper level (the bottom level houses the four steam locomotives that circle the Magic Kingdom on its west side, and a bus repair facility on the east side). On any given night, two monorail trains are parked at various stations on the system. On nights where the temperature drops below freezing, the trains will be parked inside the Contemporary Resort; but in practice, trains can be left in any station (even on the express side of a resort station). No train will ever be left outside two nights in a row because routine maintenance is performed nightly. The Monorail Shop also has a painting room located on Beam 10 that is elevated 25 feet off the ground and has a lift mounted on the wall for the painters. It takes three weeks to paint a monorail train. To access the wheels and underside of the monorail, a portion of Beam 1 inside the shop is removable, primarily used to change load tires. The diesel-powered "work tractors" are the tow trucks of the system, and can tow a train to the Monorail Shop, located around the bend from Space Mountain. Monorail Operations at the Walt Disney World resort has three separate tractors that allow for the simultaneous towing of three different monorails. In the event of a power failure on one of the monorail lines, the tractors are still operational, as they are powered by on-board diesel engines.

Contruction of Monorail Shop (Notice WDW's powerplant in top of photo)

A monorail "work tractor" as seen towing Monorail Green on the maintenance access beam

The current train identification colors include:

Red
Coral
Orange
Gold
Yellow
Teal

Lime
Green
Blue
Silver
Black
Peach

Retired colors:

Purple
Pink

The Monorail Graveyard pic 1

The Monorail Graveyard pic 2

III. Tokyo Disney Monorail System:

While the monorails at Disneyland and Walt Disney World are without a doubt monorails, the Tokyo Disney Resort Line has been, due to its scale, referred to by many as the first real Disney park monorail. Unlike the systems in California and Florida which are 3/5ths scale adaptations of Dr. Axel Lennart Wenner-Gren's original Alweg design, the trains of the Tokyo Disney Resort Line, which are 275 feet long and carry up to 571 passengers, are built to full scale.

The system's particularly large beams are the result of not only the trains' size, but also the desire to increase the span between support pylons. Under normal operation, the system runs four Liners at once, with the fifth in reserve, but it is capable of operating all five at one time if desired. The trains are designated as such: 1-Blue / 2-Yellow / 3-Purple / 4-Green / 5-Peach.

There's something else about the Tokyo Disney Resort Line that certainly deserves mention - Its trains are driverless. The individual Liners (as they are called) are controlled from a central location by an automated (but monitored, of course) system. A single Cast Member rides in the tail of each Liner to ensure that guests have fully boarded the vehicle before its doors are closed.

***************

The Disney Monorail System is just another amazing feat to come to the Disney parks. It's a must ride for each visit as it's nostalgia and sights can't be topped. Whether it be in Disneyland, Walt Disney World, or Tokyo Disney; the monorail will always be "your highway in the sky!"

Howard Ashman

2012-07-10T17:40:00.000-07:00

Producer and lyricist Howard Ashman made a huge splash in the world of Disney animation in 1989 with "The Little Mermaid," which he co-produced with John Musker, while the song "Under the Sea," co-written with composer Alan Menken, won an Oscar for Best Song. We all know of that infectious piece when, Sebastian advises Ariel to stay in her home under water, because the seaweed isn't necessarily greener "undah somebody else's lake." Continue after the page break for a glance at one of Disney's finest legends, Howard Ashman...

Howard and Alan Menken

Howard's lyrics, as Menken recalled, "would wink at the adults and say something to the kids at exactly the same time." Whether Howard envisioned a hip genie in "Aladdin" performing the flamboyant Oscar-nominated song "Friend Like Me," or the roll-off-the-tongue candlestick in "Beauty and the Beast" oozing with charm while singing the lively Oscar-nominated "Be Our Guest," he imbued Disney characters with his own sense of emotional realism. In fact, "Beauty and the Beast," which he executive produced, was the first animated movie ever nominated for an Academy Award for Best Motion Picture, a category typically reserved for live-action films, while its title song won the songwriters yet another Oscar. Subsequently, the motion picture was dedicated to Howard, "who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul" after his untimely death on March 14, 1991, prior to the film's release that year.

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, on May 17, 1950, the successful lyricist, librettist, playwright, and director received his MFA from Indiana University. In 1974, he moved to New York and became an editor at Grosset & Dunlap, while writing plays including "Dreamstuff," a musical version of Shakespeare's "The Tempest," which marked the beginning of his association with Off-Off-Broadway WPA Theatre in 1977. Two years later, Howard teamed with Menken for the first time creating a musical version of Kurt Vonnegut's "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater." They went on to write the musical version of Roger Corman's 1960 cult film "Little Shop of Horrors" and won critical raves and awards including the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical of 1982-83. The off-beat show was transformed into a motion picture by Frank Oz in 1986, subsequently winning the musical duo their first Academy Award nominations.

That same year, Howard penned the wistful ballad "Disneyland" for the Broadway production of "Smile," written with Marvin Hamlisch, depicting utopia as a Disney theme park, and soon after signed a contract with The Walt Disney Company to write lyrics and dialogue for its animated features. In 1994, "Beauty and the Beast" moved to the New York stage, and has since become Broadway's 10th longest-running musical. The production features "Human Again," a chorus number by Howard and Menken that was storyboarded for the animated motion picture, but never completed. The nearly 10-minute sequence, however, has been newly-animated and added to "Beauty and the Beast," which was re-released on IMAX screens across the nation on January 1, 2002.

At the 1989 Oscars for Little Mermaid Ashman told Menken they needed to talk when they got home to New York City about something important that couldn't be mentioned at the Oscars. When they got back to Ashman's house in New York Ashman told Menken that he was sick and was HIV positive and revealed during the production of Beauty and the Beast that he had been diagnosed with AIDS which made him weaker everyday but never stopped him from writing songs. On March 14 1991 Howard Asham died at a Hospital in New York City at the age of 40. He was survived by his life partner Bill Lauch, his sister Sarah Ashman-Gillespie, and his mom Shirley Ashman. Below are a couple of clips from the fantastically informative and entertaining Waking Sleeping Beauty documentary featuring Howard.

Waking Sleeping Beauty Bonus Feature on Howard Ashman:

Howard directing Jodi Benson during the recording of "Part Of Your World":

Making of: Castaway Cay

2012-07-06T04:00:00.000-07:00

Castaway Cay is a private island in the Bahamas which serves as an exclusive port for the Disney Cruise ships. Today we take a peek a the Making of: Disney's Castaway Cay...

Castaway Cay is located near Great Abaco Island and was formerly known as Gorda Cay. It is owned in full by The Walt Disney Company, giving them substantial control over the experience of visitors to the island. Disney acquired Castaway Cay in February 1996. A post office on the island has special Bahamian postage specific to Disney Cruise Line, and a "Castaway Cay" postmark.

Disney is said to have spent US $25 million to develop and outfit the island. Construction took 18 months and included dredging 50,000 truckloads of sand from the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. The pier and its approaches were constructed to allow the Disney ships to dock alongside, thus removing the need for tenders to get the passengers ashore. To create the mooring site for the ships, workers dredged sand and used explosives to blast coral, thus forming a 1,700-foot channel about 35 feet deep and ranging from 200 to 400 feet wide. The island is still largely undeveloped: only 55 of the 1,000 acres are being used.

Gorda Cay was once used as a stop for drug runners. There is an airstrip on the island, but it is no longer in regular use nor maintained. Gorda Cay has also been used for filming; the beach where Tom Hanks first encounters Daryl Hannah in Splash is on the island.

The island is developed in the theme of a castaway community, with buildings made to look as if they had been improvised after a shipwreck. The facilities are maintained like any other Disney theme park, and the shops accept guests' stateroom keys for payment. The food service is operated as an extension of the cruise package. A variety of activities are available to guests including bicycle hire, personal watercraft rental, snorkeling, and parasailing. There are three beaches for guests: one for families, one for teens, and another exclusively for adults, called Serenity Bay.

Two submarine-ride vehicles from the now-closed 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage ride at Walt Disney World lie underwater in the snorkeling area. The Flying Dutchman pirate ship, from the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, was on display in the lagoon. In November 2010, the Flying Dutchman had been removed and taken to another location on the island where it was being dismantled.

The seven-night cruises visit Castaway Cay on Fridays, four-night cruises visit on Tuesdays, and three-night cruises visit on Saturdays. Castaway Cay has facilities for the exclusive use of the ships' crews, including beaches and recreational areas. A staff of 70 custodians, boat captains, drivers, landscapers, and maintenance personnel live on the island, and are supplemented by crew from the ship when one is in port. Food and other supplies are brought in by the ships themselves. Sea water is desalinated for drinking with reverse osmosis water processors.

A short tour of the island:

That does it for today's Making of segment; until next time...