Think Disney

Walt Disney World's Florida Orange Bird is Back!

2011-02-12T13:50:00.000-08:00

The Disney Parks Blog said that the old Florida Orange Bird that sponsored Disney World's version of The Tiki Room called "Tropical Serenade" has returned to the parks, the article is listed below.

"Do you remember the Florida Orange Bird?

This unique character, who appeared exclusively at Magic Kingdom Park in the 1970s, recently reappeared on new T-shirts available at Epcot."

"The Florida Orange Bird originally greeted families at Sunshine Tree Terrace in Adventureland, where guests could buy frozen citrus drinks and shop for Florida Orange Bird merchandise. The character also starred in orange juice commercials and even had his own record, which was released in 1971 to feature “The Orange Bird Song” – a tune penned by the Sherman Brothers (composers of “Mary Poppins” and “The Jungle Book” songs)."

"Although the character disappeared from the park by 1981, Florida Orange Bird merchandise has been a popular collectible among Disney fans for years."

So I am really happy to see a historic Disney icon come back to the parks.

The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure Update!

2011-01-21T14:22:00.000-08:00

Here is a update video released by Disney on the Disney Parks Blog about the new Little Mermaid attraction coming this year to Disney California Adventure. I am really excited to see this.

Star Tours

2011-01-13T10:38:00.000-08:00

I decided to make a post about Star Tours because it will truly be missed by many Disneyland fans, even though the excitement for Star Tours II: The Adventures Continue is lingering in all of our minds. The ride that became Star Tours first saw light as a proposal for an attraction based on the 1979 Disney live-action film The Black Hole. It would have been an interactive ride simulator attraction, where guests would have had the ability to choose the ride car's route, but after preliminary planning, the Black Hole attraction was shelved due to its enormous cost—approximately $50 million USD—as well as the unpopularity of the film itself.

But instead of completely dismissing the idea of a simulator, the company decided to make use of a partnership between Disney and George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, that began in 1986 with the opening of Captain EO (a 3-D musical film starring Michael Jackson) at the California park. Disneyland then approached Lucas with the idea for Star Tours. With Lucas' approval, Disney Imagineers purchased four military-grade flight simulators at a cost of $500,000 each and designed the ride structure.

Meanwhile, Lucas and his team of special effects technicians at Industrial Light & Magic produced the first-person perspective film that would be projected inside the simulators. When both simulator and film were completed, a programmer then sat inside and, with the aid of a joystick, manually synchronized the movement of the simulator with the apparent movement on screen. On January 9, 1987, at a final cost of $32 million, almost twice the cost of building the entire park in 1955, the ride opened to throngs of patrons, many of whom dressed up as Star Wars characters for the occasion. In celebration, Disneyland remained open for a special 60-hour marathon from January 9, 1987 at 10 am to January 11, 1987 at 10 pm.

Advertised as "The Ultimate Star Wars Adventure!", Star Tours puts the guest in the role of a space tourist en route to the forest moon of Endor, the site of the climactic battle of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, via the Star Tours travel agency. Much is made of this throughout the ride queue, which is designed to look like a spaceship boarding terminal: posters advertise voyages to different planets, and a giant screen informs riders of the benefits of going to Endor. This area is stocked with Audio-Animatronic characters that seem to speak to the ride patrons (including C-3PO and R2-D2), as well as a life-size mock-up of a StarSpeeder 3000, the fictional spacecraft which riders are about to board. According to the book Disneyland Detective by Kendra Trahan, the figures of C-3PO and R2-D2 in the Disneyland attraction are actual props from the original film, modified to operate via Audio-Animatronics.

Guests then enter a maintenance area where an apparently under productive G2 droid performs repairs on another droid while being distracted by the observing guests, and another droid inadvertently points out all the supposed flaws of the Starspeeder 3000 and its RX pilots. The G2 droids are in fact the animatronic skeletons of two geese from the defunct Tomorrowland attraction America Sings. A ride attendant escorts guests to one of several loading stations where they wait for their turn to ride.

At the end of the ride guest unload from the Starspeeder and go into The Star Trader shop.

Below is a blueprint of Star Tours showing how the queue and ride vehicles fit into the building, and a video of Star Tours.

Disney's Hollywood Studios

Every Disney Resort except Hong Kong Disneyland has a version of Star Tours. All of the rides are the same but the buildings and queues vary a little. In Disney's Hollywood Studios the outside of the ride looks like a movie set of the planet Endor. The queue is almost the same as Disneyland's except the very entrance of the building has some chairs for the actors and some filming equipment. The store at the end of the ride is called Tatooine Traders. The Star Tours in Disney's Hollywood Studios opened on Sept. 7, 1989.

Below is a video of Disney's Hollywood Studio's version of Star Tours. This was taken during the final flight ceremony, so this was the last day of flights before the attraction closed.

Tokyo Disneyland

The Star Tours in Tokyo Disneyland opened on July 12, 1989 and was actually the second Star Tours to open (almost two months before Disney's Hollywood Studios's version). The ride building looks like a building that one would see in a Star Wars movie, and the queue has more detail to it than the American versions of the ride. Also this version of Star Tours has audio in both Japanese and English.

At the end of the ride you will see Officer Zzzyxx and he mans what looks like a futuristic baggage screening desk outside of Star Tours at Tokyo Disneyland. He bears an uncanny resemblance to Sonny Eclipse at Cosmic Rays in Walt Disney World. According to HiddenMickeys.org, he was first developed for Tokyo Disneyland then re-used (and modified) for the Orlando park.

Below are a couple videos of Tokyo's Star Tours. The first video is the queue, the second is of the safty pre-boarding video, and the third video is the ride.

Disneyland Paris

The Star Tours in Disneyland Paris was the only Star Tours to be an opening day attraction on April 12, 1992. The ride building looks like a Star Wars space information receiver and it has a replica of an X-Wing Fighter out front. The queue is very similar to the one found in California's Disneyland.

Below are two videos. The first one is the pre-board, and the second one is the ride.

If you have ever wondered how the motion simulators worked below is behind scene footage of the simulators for Star Tours in Disneyland Paris.

The Disney Dream

2010-11-19T11:17:00.000-08:00

The DisneyParks Blog has posted some new videos of The Disney Dream cruise ship so I decided to make a small post about it. The cruise ship will start it's voyages on January 26, 2011. Also The Disney Dream is 40% larger than it's two older sister ships, the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder, with a design gross tonnage of 128,000 tons, a length of 330 meters and a width of 37 meters. Also the Disney Dream will have wi-fi throughout the ship, and every one of it's 1,250 staterooms will have flat screened TVs. The ship will also feature the first water coaster at sea, called "The Aquaduck". The Disney Dream is 45,000 tons larger, 5 decks higher (3 passenger decks), 151 feet longer, it's beam is 15 ft wider, it will hold up to 4,000 passengers (over 1,600 more than its sister ships), and has 555 more crew members than the Disney Magic, and Disney Wonder.

Here is a video of The AquaDuck

Snow White Grotto

2010-11-12T07:52:00.000-08:00

Disneyland

Snow White's Grotto is located on the west side of Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland. The grotto is comprised of statues of Snow White, the seven dwarves, and a few woodland creatures. Snow White is standing at the top of a cascading waterfall. There is a bridge and walkway in front of the waterfall as well as a wishing well (the proceeds of which go to local children's charities).The statues were donated anonymously to Walt Disney, and he was determined to incorporate them into the park. The only problem was that whoever made the statues made Snow White the same size as the dwarves (which she is not). Walt Disney Imagineer John Hench used the optical trick of forced perspective to make the statues work. He put Snow White at the top of the waterfall with a Disney-made small deer and put the dwarves close to ground-level, making Snow appear to be further away, and thus smaller.One rumor as to the origin of the statues is that they were "a gift from an Italian sculptor that had never seen the film, but owned a set of soaps in the form of the princess and the dwarfs. Unfortunately, Snow White was the same size as the dwarfs in the soap set, so the sculptor made her that way." Singing was added to the grotto inside the wishing well on 1984 with the opening of new Fantasyland, and it is the voice of Adriana Castelotti the original voice of Snow White.

Tokyo Disneyland

Hong Kong Disneyland

World of Color

2010-06-17T16:15:00.000-07:00

The new World of Color water show in Disney California Adventure has opened on June 11, 2010, and let be tell you it is extremely amazing. It was designed by the Walt Disney Creative Entertainment, and the show has more than 1200 fountains which includes lasers, lights, and fire. Also there are high-definition projections on mist screens similar to the ones used in Fantasmic! at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios. The music for the show was arranged by Mark Hammond and Dave Hamilton. The show is around 27 minutes long and you may get wet while you are watching it. The show was named after Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color TV show and the water show has scenes from different Disney movies and shows. Also there was a new viewing area made called Paradise Park and it is stunningly beautiful. The pictures below are courtesy of Disneygeek.

Below is a video of the World of Color.

Silly Symphony Swings

2010-05-31T11:34:00.000-07:00

There is a new attraction in California Adventure called Silly Symphony Swings. It is a "wave swinger" attraction located on Paradise Pier. The attraction is themed to the Disney's The Band Concert episode, there Mickey Mouse conductor stands high atop of the attraction, which synchronized with music. Although "The Band Concert" was not part of the 'Silly Symphonies' film series, the name was applied to the attraction due to its apparent symphony storyline. Closely following the plot of "The Band Concert" the main column of the ride rises revealing a tornado which spins the riders to the tune of the William Tell Overture and William Tell's "Storm". Once the tornado safely passes, the music comes to an end and the ride slows and lowers riders to the ground. It is speculated that the new voice of the Silly Symphony Swings is that of the fictitious Mr. Tinkershmidt, the supposed new owner of Paradise Pier. Tinkershmidt and the Silly Symphony Swings update is part of the multi-year, $1.1 billion (US) expansion plan for Disney's California Adventure Park. Below are pictures and vidoe of the attraction.

Controversial Disney?

2010-05-20T06:23:00.000-07:00

I have never done a post that wasn't about a Disney theme park but here is a article about controversial
Disney characters below.

http://graphicdesigndegrees.org/10-disney-characters-who-stirred-up-controversy/

I don't believe that the Disney company tried to make harmful or racial tensions, but these characters just reflect the mindset of the period of time the movies were made. Think for yourself and comment on my page.

Autopia

2010-05-16T12:13:00.000-07:00

Autopia is an original Disneyland attraction that opened on July 17, 1955. The attraction is located in Tomorrowland and it was made to show the future of America's freeway system which were just being made at the time Disneyland first opened.

When the attraction was being made they tried not having bumpers on the cars, but the test drivers soon found out that the shells on the cars would be destroyed if the cars did not have bumpers on them. The original cars were made in Glendale California and the cars shells were (and still are) made out of fiberglass. The 40 original cars were powered by the Gladden 75 engine that had 7.5 horsepower. The engines were the same as the ones used in the Mustang motorcycle. Also amazingly when the attraction opened it did not have the center guide rail system that we love to hate, but still love anyway. The attraction was made to actually feel like driving a car on a freeway, but to many people were crashing on the course so they installed spring loaded bumpers to the cars and the center guide rail. The attraction has received some major changes in 1967 and in 1999.

The Autopia in Tomorrowland was not the only Autopia like ride in the park. On Jun 23, 1956 the Junior Autopia opened in Fantasyland where the old Mickey Mouse Club Circus used to be. The cars looked the same as the original Autopia but booster seats and blocks on the pedals were added so that younger kids could drive them. The attraction later closed on September 15, 1958 because they had to make room for the Matterhorn bobsleds and the Monorail. The attraction was changed and later reopened back up again on January 1, 1959 as the expanded Fantasyland Autopia. The Fantasyland Autopia was across the way from the Matterhorn and it was almost identical to the Tomorrowland Autopia having two tracks and a double sided boarding area with senic routes, going over bridges and cloverleafs. At times the Fanastyland Autopia and the Tomorrowland Autopia came together to make Tomorrowland's four-lane superhighway.

Below is a picture of Fantasyland Autopia.

In 1991 the Fantasyland Autopia was converted to the Rescue Rangers Raceway because of the Disney's Afternoon Avenue makeover in Fantasyland. The attraction changed back into the the Fantasyland Autopia when the promotion ended in 1992. The Fantasyland Autopia remained mostly open until 1999 when both the Tomorrowland and Fantasyland Autopias closed. In 2000 the two Autopias merged to become on gigantic Autopia presented by Chevron in Tomorrowland with a whole new selection of cars.

But wait there's more! If you were still to short to drive Tomorrowland's Autopia and the Junior/Fantasyland Autopia then you could ride the Midget Autopia. The Midget Autopia opened on April 23, 1957 and was next to the Storybook Land Canal Boats in Fantasyland. The Midget Autopia was unique compared to the other Autopias because instead of the person behind the wheel being the driver it used the same ride system that we can find in Mr. Toad's Wild ride. This was the third and the smallest of the Autopias in Disneyland and the ride would go through barns and other farm like themed areas. The attraction closed on April of 1966 to make room for the pathway that leads to "it's a small world". The Midget Autopia did not get destroyed however, but instead Walt Disney donated the ride to his hometown of Marceline, Missouri were it operated for a couple years but had to be closed down because of high maintenance cost. You can still find one of the cars inside the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in Marceline, but if you can not travel to Missouri don't worry because you can still see one of the Midget Autopia cars painted to look like a statue on Autopia in Disneyland.

Below are pictures of where the Midget Autopia used to be located in Marceline, MO. You can still see where the track, tunnel, and queue were.

Here is one of the Midget Autopia cars in the Walt Disney Hometown Museum.

Also below is a actual Midget Autopia car still located in Disneyland on Tomorrowland's Autopia.

Below is a video of Autopia.

Tomorrowland Speedway

Every Disneyland style theme park has a version of the original Autopia. In the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort there version is called the Tomorrowland Speedway. When the Magic Kingdom first opened in 1971 the attraction was called the Grand Prix Raceway, and instead of it being themed as the roadways of the future it was themed as a international car race. The Grand Prix Raceway was located on the north end of Tomorrowland and was sponsored by Goodyear which supplied all of the tires for the Mark VII vehicles.

The attraction received a expansion in 1973, but in the late 1980's part of the track was shortened to make room for Mickey's Birthdayland. In 1994 the attraction got remodeled with the rest of Tomorrowland, and the named changed to Tomorrowland Indy Speedway but the track and the vehicles remained the same. On December 20, 1999, the Walt Disney Company and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway cam together to change the theme of the track. The ride was changed to add items from the famous Speedway, such as the famous Yard of Bricks, the Scoring Pylon, Gasoline Alley and the wheel and wing logo. The loading area featured panels with the three Indy events: the Indianapolis 500, the Brickyard 400 and the United States Grad Prix. In 2008 the name of the attraction changed again to the Tomorrowland Speedaway, but the ride remained unchanged.

Below is a video of the Tomorrowland Speedway.

Grand Circuit Raceway

Tokyo Disneyland's is called the Grand Circuit Raceway and it opened with the park in 1983 in Tomorrowland. The attraction is sponsored by Bridgestone and has remained mostly untouched since the park opened. The Grand Circuit Raceway is like the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland Raceway, the attraction has multiple racing tracks and it is a large figure eight type course.

Below is a video of the Grand Circuit Raceway.

Disneyland Paris's Autopia

Disneyland Paris's Autopia opened with Euro Disneyland on April 12, 1992. The attraction is located in Discoveryland and it uses the same theming as Disneyland's Autopia. The scenery though is unique to this ride and the cars feature a more rounded toy-like look to them to fit with the 1950's retro theme of the attraction. The ride is about 7-9 minutes long.

Below is a video of the attraction.

Hong Kong Disneyland's Autopia

The Autopia in Hong Kong is the only Autopia themed attraction that did not open when the park first opened, instead it opened about one year later in the summer of 2006 as part of the park's first expansion in Tommorowland. This Autopia is very different than all of the others because it is all electric instead of gas powered, and it has lights on the cars. Also this is the only Autopia with an on board speaker system. The scenery on the attraction looks more futuristic and alien with lots of jungle plants. Hong Kong Disneyland's Autopia is sponsored by Honda.

Below is a video of the attraction.

Casey Jr. Circus Train

2010-03-23T16:47:00.000-07:00

Casey Jr. Circus Train:

The Casey Jr. Circus Train is an opening day attraction of Disneyland on July 17, 1955 and is themed after Walt Disney's 1941 film Dumbo. The ride is located at the back of Fantasyland behind Dumbo The Flying Elephant and is the sister attraction of Storybook Land Canal Boats, (which opened a week later) and while on the ride you see the miniature villages but at a faster pace.

When Walt Disney was in the planning stages of his park he wanted a roller coaster ride based on Casey Jr. going down a Rock Candy Mountain, but due to lack of money and technology at the time (since steel coasters were not yet invented) The ride was change to how it is today. Below is some concept art of the attraction.

There were no miniature villages when the ride first opened there was just dirt with some common weeds growing in it (as seen in the model below) but when Storybook Canal Boats opened the attraction gained it's beauty. Most of the train cars that you sit on are the leftover seats from King Arthur Carrousel when they added more horses to it and removed the seats.

The host of the ride is the Ring Master from the movie and throughout the ride you listen to Dumbo's Casey Jr. Song. The train consist of seven cars and the ride duration is 3:30 minutes. The attractions top speed is 14 mph and it has one lift hill. The attraction has two trains but usually one works a day. Below are some pictures and a video of the ride.

Casey Jr. Le Petit Train Du Cirque:

Disneyland Paris's version of the attraction is called Casey Jr. Le Petit Du Cirque and is almost the same as Disneyland's but also different. This version of the ride is not a railroad but actually a powered roller coaster without a lift hill. Also this version goes around their Storybook Land but it gives some better views of the miniature villages that you can not see on the canal boats for example you go around the Beast's castle pretty closely.

The attraction has three trains and the ride duration is 2:30 minutes. The ride opened in 1994 two years after Disneyland Paris opened. Below are pictures and a video of this attraction.

Disney's Port Orleans Resort

2010-03-13T16:10:00.000-08:00

Disney's Port Orleans is a complex of two hotels called "Disney's Port Orleans Resort French Quarter" and "Disney's Port Orleans Resort Riverside" located in Downtown Disney of the Walt Disney World Resort.

Disney's Port Orleans Resort French Quarter:

The French Quarter hotel was themed and designed to look like the actual French Quarter down in Louisiana and it opened on May 17, 1991 as Disney's Port Orleans Resort. The hotel had 432 guest rooms separated between three buildings. The hotel later expanded to 1,008 rooms and added 7 three story tall buildings holding 144 rooms each.

The French Quarter has one food court called the Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory as seen below.

If you love true New Orleans style Jazz then go to the Scat Cat's Club which on select nights features awesome sounding Jazz for your enjoyment.

By the pool there a a bar called Mardi Grogs. the pool at this hotel is called Doubloon Lagoon that holds 225,000 gallons of water and it has a water slide that looks like a sea serpent as seen blow.

Below are more pictures of Disney's Port Orleans Resort French Quarter.

Disney's Port Orleans Resort Riverside:

Disney's Port Orleans Resort Riverside is themed to look like the mansions around the southern part of the Mississippi River. The second hotel opened on February 2, 1992 as "Disney's Dixie Landings Resort". This hotel has two sections to stay in "Alligator Bayou" which has a southern rustic theme and "Magnolia Bend" which is themed to look like plantations. Together this hotel has 2,048 rooms to stay at.

Both of the hotels share a restaurant called the Boatwright's Dining Hall which serves southern style cuisine. Boatwright's Dining Hall is flanked by River Roost lounge with a sing-along ragtime piano comedy show on select nights. Up the hall is the Riverside Mill Food Court featuring a working cotton press. There is also a pool bar called Muddy Rivers on Ol' Man Island that sells alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

At the Riverside hotel there is a 3 1/2 acre area called Ol' Man that has a 158,000 gallon swimming pool with a rustic saw-mill themed water slide and a hot tub in it. The island has a playground for young children to play at and if you want to do some fishing then you can at the Fishin' Hole where they have poles and bate to rent. If you want something more quite there are three other pools located around the hotel.

As of April 1, 2001 the two resorts joined to make the one "Disney's Port Orleans Resort". Also the river that the resort is on is called the Sassagoula River and one can rent boats at the Riverside area to putts around on the water.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

2010-03-07T11:13:00.000-08:00

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride has been one of the most loved attractions in Disneyland since opening day. It is one of the few attractions that opened with the park in 1955 and it is based off the movie "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" which was released on October 5, 1949. The ride and movie are about a rich toad who loves to drive fast and wild on the new invention of automobiles. The attraction is located in the castle courtyard in Fantasyland and is below the Alice in Wonderland attraction.

When the attraction first opened as seen above it used to look like a medieval tournament castle tent like the rest of the attractions in Fantasyland. When Fantasyland was getting it's facelift in 1982 the ride was completely gutted and the Tent was torn down to make a replica of Toad Hall as the ride's new entrance, and the attraction reopen in 1983 with the rest on Fantasyland. Below are pictures of the ride in order and a video clip of the attraction.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride can now only be found at Disneyland, but once it was located in Fantasyland in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. The ride was also an opening day attraction of the Magic Kingdom in 1971 and it had two sets of tracks with different experiences, but it closed on September 7, 1998 and was replaced with The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction.

Below are videos of both tracks on the ride.

Alice's Curious Labyrinth

2010-02-20T10:51:00.000-08:00

Alice's Curious Labyrinth is a hedge maze at Disneyland Paris located in Fantasyland. The maze is filled with scenes from Disney's Alice in Wonderland that was released in 1951, and is mostly based on the scene when the Queen of Hearts is trying to catch Alice in the maze at the last part of the film. Alice's Curious Labyrinth has two mazes in it. The first maze has scenes from the first half of the movie before she meets the Queen, and the second maze is based on her meet and greet with the Queen of Hearts. The goal of the Labyrinth is to find the Queen of Heart's castle. Once you find the castle you can climb to the top of it and see all of Fantasyland. The castle once had a slide on it but was removed after its first year because of safety purposes. The whole Labyrinth is in the shape of the Cheshire Cat's body. The Labyrinth is an opening day attraction of Disneyland Paris Park. Below are some pictures and a video of Alice's Curious Labyrinth.

Downtown Disney

2010-02-18T14:54:00.000-08:00

The Disney Parks Blog released a new video on Disneyland's Downtown Disney so I will do a post on it.

The first sign of a Downtown Disney was in the Walt Disney World Resort in March 22, 1975 when they opened Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village. Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village was a complex of shops and restaurants made for keeping guest from leaving the Disney property and to stay longer. Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village had a few name changes and was later named Downtown Disney Marketplace.

The Walt Disney Company wanted to make Disneyland park into a resort like Disney World so they came up with the idea to add another theme park, more hotels, and a shopping/entertainment district, thus Disneyland's Downtown Disney was born.

Disneyland's Downtown Disney District lies between the resort's two theme parks and it’s hotels. To fit it in that spot it was built on a piece of the old Disneyland parking lot (with Disney’s California Adventure) and sadly the original Disneyland Hotel that Walt Disney made had to be torn down for it to fit. Disneyland's Downtown Disney is smaller than the one in Florida and is totally free to go there.

Not just is Disneyland's Downtown Disney made to keep guest to stay longer, but it was also made to attract locals to come and experience some Disney night life. All of Disneyland’s hotels can be accessed from Downtown Disney, and the second station for the Disneyland Monorail is located there but you need a Disneyland ticket to ride it since it goes into the park. In my opinion Disneyland's Downtown Disney is better than Disney World's because it is closer to everything and it actually feels like a Disney city. Next time you visit the Disneyland Resort be sure to check out Downtown Disney. Below is the video from the Disney Parks Blog.

Mad Tea Party

2010-02-16T12:02:00.000-08:00

The Mad Tea Party is one of the few remaining attractions from Disneyland's opening day on July 17, 1955. The ride was made to look like The Very Merry Unbirthday Party scene from Disney's Alice in Wonderland and it is the first of two attractions themed after that movie.

The attraction is in Fantasyland and used to be situated behind King Arthur Carrousel in the castle courtyard, and was in front of Mr. Toads Wild Ride and the Mickey Mouse Club Theater (Fantasyland Theater). Below are pictures of the original ride and a video about it.

When Fantasyland had it's facelift in 1983 the Mad Tea Party was updated and moved to in front of the Alice in Wonderland ride because the two rides are based on the same movie. In 2004 it was made more difficult to spin the tea cups, but if you want to spin the as fast as you can the plain lavender teacup spins the fastest. This is another attraction in Disneyland that can not operate in the rain. The ride has 18 teacups and plays the Unbirthday Song while guest are on the ride, and above the ride there are lanterns that look like to ones from the movie. Below are pictures and a video of the ride now.

This is a ride that can be found at all five Disneyland style theme parks around the world. The one at Disneyland is the only one without a cover over the top of it and all of them are located in Fantasyland.

Magic Kingdom: Mad Tea Party

The ride at the Magic Kingdom is also called Mad Tea Party and opened with the park on October 1, 1971. The ride duration is 1 1/2 minutes.

Tokyo Disneyland: Alice's Tea Party

This is the only one of the five rides that was not an opening day attraction with the park it is in. Alice's Tea Party opened on March 8, 1986 about 3 years after Tokyo Disneyland opened.

Disneyland Paris: Mad Hatter's Tea Cups

Mad Hatter's Tea Cups has a very elaborate cover on top of it. The attraction opened on April 12, 1992.

Hong Kong Disneyland: Mad Hatter Tea Cups

Opening on September 12, 2005 Mad Hatter Tea Cups is the newest of the five tea cup rides.

Disneyland's Alice in Wonderland

2010-02-08T12:30:00.000-08:00

Since the new Alice in Wonderland movie is coming out soon I decided to make a picture and video tour of the classic Disneyland ride.

The attraction first opened on June 14, 1958 and is the second ride themed off the movie Alice in Wonderland. People do not understand why Walt made this ride because he said that his movie "lacked heart" and the movie was almost a box office failure when it was first released in 1951. Years later though the movie is a success and the ride is one of the most popular attractions in Fantasyland. This ride is also one of the only rides in the park that closes when it rains.

Just like most of the rides in Fantasyland this ride also got a facelift and latter opened in 1984 with the new Fantasyland. The ride follows the path of the movie, as the riders (as Alice) follow the White Rabbit down the Rabbit Hole into Wonderland. They go through scenes in a madcap fashion, facing the wrath of angry flowers on a golden afternoon and dodging absurd creatures in the forest, with some questionable guidance from the Cheshire Cat. When the Queen of Hearts loses to Alice at croquet, she threatens to chop off the innocent girl's head as she (and the ride vehicles) push their way through brigades of playing cards. The vehicles then leave the ride building's second floor (a rare occurrence in a non-thrill ride at a Disney park) and descends by people waiting in line on a winding giant lily pad, before heading to the climactic scene at the Mad Tea Party. The White Rabbit ducks as a giant birthday cake with a dynamite candle explodes and the ride vehicles escape back to where they began. Alice herself is only seen in the singing flower garden hidden behind a leaf to the visitor's right. Below are some photos of the ride, the first set here are from the original ride before the facelift.

Below is how the ride looks now and in order of the ride.

Below is a video of the ride.

Disney's California Adventure Expansion Update 1/25/10

2010-01-25T17:25:00.000-08:00

Silly Symphony Swings has it's new top on as seen here.

Hong Kong Disneyland Expansion

2010-01-23T16:00:00.000-08:00

Hong Kong Disneyland is in the middle of a $468 million expansion that is going to add three new lands Toy Story Land, Mystic Point, and Grizzly Trail. These new lands should help bring up the park attendance. The Expansion started construction on Dec. 13, 2009 and should be completed in 2014.

Toy Story Land

Toy Story Land will be the first to open and is themed around the movie Toy Story. The land will make guest feel that they have been shrunk to the size of toys and will have three simple rides.

There will be lots of photo spots next to giant toys, toy themed food carts, a half pipe rollercoaster type ride, a parachute drop ride, and a spinning Slinky Dog ride.

Mystic Point

Mystic Point is themed to look like a tropical rainforest with something weird going on in it.

Every Disneyland has a version of the famous Haunted Mansion and still will stay true with Hong Kong Disneyland, but instead of a house filled with ghost and ghouls it will be filled with a collection of items from around the world. The items will come alive at night when a monkey opens a music box with some magic in it. This version of The Haunted Mansion is called Mystic Manor and the ride will feature new technology and a trackless ride system. Below are pictures and a video on Mystic Manor.

Grizzly Trail

Also to keep with tradition every Disneyland has a Frontierland, but Hong Kong Disneyland's will be called Grizzly trail and instead of a Big Thunder Mountain it will have a rollercoaster called Big Grizzly Mountain.

Below is a video that The Walt Disney Company released about the expansion.

Disney's California Adventure Then, Now, and In The Future Part Two

2010-01-21T14:03:00.000-08:00

Golden State

The Golden State is the largest land in Disney's California Adventure. The land is made up of six sub-lands to let guest feel how the state of California really is. The sub-lands are Sunshine Plaza (already talked about in part one), Condor Flats, Grizzly Peak Recreation Area, The Bay Area, Golden Vine Winery, and Pacific Wharf.

Condor Flats

Condor Flats was made to celebrate the aviation history of California. The E-ticket ride in this sub-land is Soarin’ Over California. There is also a restaurant called Taste Pilot's Grill located next to Soarin'.

Soarin' Over California below is a simulation type ride that gives guest the impression of hang gliding over famous places in California. The attraction can hold 87 guest and can make the smells of oranges and pine trees when you fly over them.

Below is a full video ride through of Soarin' Over California

Grizzly Peak Recreation Area

Grizzly Peak Recreation Area is the next sub-land in the Golden State. The land was themed to look like the forest of Yosemite and Redwood National Park. The main attraction here is Grizzly River Run on Grizzly Peak. This sub-land also has the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail which has showings of The Magic of Brother Bear based off the movie Brother Bear. Also there is an entrance to Disney's Grand Californian Hotel which was built inside the parks boundaries.

The top three photos are of Grizzly Peak and Grizzly River Run. Grizzly River Run is a rapid flume type attraction that circles around Grizzly Peak. Grizzly Peak is now the main icon of Disney's California Adventure but will soon be replaced with the Carthay Circle Theater when it is constructed. The photos below are of the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.

Golden Vine Winery

Golden Vine Winery was themed to look like California's Napa Valley. This sub-land is quite small and has the Wine Country Trattoria which is a restaurant that serves Italian food and different wines. This sub-land is also home to Golden Vine Winery which houses Walt Disney Imagineering Blue Sky Cellar which opened in October 2008, also the Golden Vine Winery offers wine tasting. The Blue Sky Cellar replaced the Seasons of the Vine film theater attraction that showed the different seasons of Napa Valley.

Above is the Wine Country Trattoria restuarant and below is the now replaced Seasons of the Vine theater.

Below is what replaced Seasons of the Vine. Walt Disney Imagineering Blue Sky Cellar shows the upcoming changes of Disney's California Adventure. If you want to see more of Blue Sky Cellar I will do a post only about it later.

Pacific Wharf

Pacific Wharf is themed to look like Monterey's Cannery Row and San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. This beautiful subland is filled with retuants and tour like attractions. The restaurants of this sub-land are the Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill, Pacific Wharf Cafe, The Lucky Fortune Cookery, and a Karl Strauss beer truck whith a margarita stand. The Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill and The Lucky Fortune Cookery changed spots in 2009 after the original Lucky Fortune Cookery closed for years.

There is also two attractions in this sub-land Mission Tortilla Factory that shows guest how tortillas are made and the Boudin Bakery Tour that shows how sour dough bread is made. The Boudin Bakery Tour is lead by Rosie O'Donnell and Colin Mochrie as tour guides.

The Bay Area

The last sub-land in the Golden State is called The Bay Area. This area is themed to look like the bays of San Francisco California. The main attraction in The Bay Area was Golden Dreams staring Whoopi Goldberg. Also around the Golden Dreams theater are Victorian styled townhouses that hold the restrooms for that sub-land. The first photo below is supplied by yesterland.com.

The large archway entrance to the Golden Dreams theater is a replica of the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. The film was about the history of California and the attraction latter closed and was demolished on September 7, 2008. Below is the whole video of Golden Dreams.

Besides Sunshine Plaza The Bay Area is the only place in the Golden State that is getting a facelift for the expansion. The Golden Dreams Theater was torn down along with a San Francisco townhouse that was next to it to make room for a new E-ticket ride, "The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure" which will open in 2011. The Palace of Fine Arts archway is still there and will serve as the new entrance for the attraction. Also The Bay Area is packing up it's bags and leaving the Golden State, the sub-land is now a part of Paradise Pier. Below is a photo of the construction site along with some concept art and models for the new Little Mermaid attraction. Also at the bottom is a video on how the ride could look like when it is finished.

Disney's California Adventure Then, Now, and In The Future, Part One

2010-01-20T13:57:00.000-08:00

Disney's California Adventure started it's construction in 1998 and opened on February 8, 2001 and is the second theme park in the Disneyland Resort. The park is 55 acres and was built on top of the old parking lot for Disneyland Park. Along with two new hotels and a new shopping district Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel, and Downtown Disney this was the largest expansion ever built on the Disneyland property. Disney's California Adventure originally consisted of four theme lands Sunshine Plaza, Hollywood Pictures Backlot, The Golden State, and Paradise Pier. but in 2003 A Bug's Land was constructed. Disney's California Adventure is going through a $1.1 billion expansion due to initial lack of success to remove or update attractions and lands.

The Dedication speech was given by Michael Eisner and it goes like this,

"To all who believe in the power of dreams... welcome. Here we pay tribute to the dreamers of the past... The native people, explorers, immigrants, aviators, entrepreneurs and entertainers who built the Golden State. And we salute a new generation of dreamers who are creating the wonders of tomorrow ... From the silver screen to the computer screen ... From the fertile farmlands to the far reaches of space. Disney's California Adventure celebrates the richness and the diversity of California ... Its land, its people, its spirit and, above all, the dreams that it continues to inspire."

Sunshine Plaza

Sunshine Plaza is the park's entrance and it is made to feel like stepping into a California postcard with San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and the great California sunshine around the state's colored mountain ranges. From Sunshine Plaza guest can enter two of the parks lands Hollywood Pictures Backlot and Golden State.

Starting this year in 2010 Sunshine Plaza will close and turn into Buena Vista Street to surround guest with what Los Angeles looked like to Walt Disney in the 1920's. The new visual centerpiece of the park (above) will be a replica of the Carthay Circle Theater which held the premier for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which will host a version of the "Walt Disney Story". Also there will be Red Car trolleys that will start at the entrance of the park and go all the way to the Tower of Terror. Here is some concept art and models of how Buena Vista Street will look when complete.

Below is how the new statue in the center will look

Paradise Pier

Paradise Pier is a land themed to look like the famous boardwalks of California with restaurants and games. This land was originally home to seven attractions The Orange Stinger, California Screamin', the Maliboomer, the Sun Wheel, Jumpin' Jellyfish, Golden Zephyr, and Mulholland Madness. In the middle of Paradise Pier is Paradise Bay a large body of water that resembles California's bays. Below are old photos of Paradise Pier.

Paradise Pier was the first area of California Adventure to be updated. the land will be re themed to look like a romantic Victorian boardwalk of the 1930's. Toy Story Midway Mania opened on June 17, 2008 and was the first new attraction of the expansion which is themed to be around carnival midway games staring Toy Story. The attraction uses a state-of-the-art 4D system and a new type of game technology, also there is a audio animatronic Mr. Potato Head that can remove a body part his ear. Pictures, concept art and a video can be seen here.

The Sun Wheel later closed and was changed into Mickey's Fun Wheel which opened on May 8, 2009

The Mickey Mouse head on California Screamin' was later removed and a new sign is up there now here is a before and after picture of it.

Above is before below is after.

The Games of The Board Walk received a facelift also to look like Victorian buildings, and to be themed more around Disney movies and Characters.

Below is some concept art for other attractions that will appear in Paradise Pier

with the expansion.

Walt Disney's World of Color going to be a new night time water show in Paradise Bay that will open in March of 2010. The show should have 1200 fountains and special light and laser effects.

Below is a new video that was just released by the Disney Company showing the construction process of Walt Disney's World of Color.

Goofy's Sky School is going to replace Mulholland Madness in 2010.

The Orange Stinger has already started to change into Silly symphony Swings and will open back up in April of 2010.

Well that is it for Part One I will have Part Two up and running shortly.

Captain EO Returns to Disneyland

2010-01-15T06:23:00.000-08:00

After 13 years Michael Jackson's Captain EO will return to Tomorrowland the show started in 1986 and left Disneyland in 1997. The show was a instant success and was directed by George Lucas. The show will return this year 2010 in February for a limited time.

Here is the full video.

Lets Parade Down Main Street

2010-01-14T06:19:00.000-08:00

Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World has a new parade this year for the Give a Day, Get a Disney Day volunteer program. The parade is called "Disney's Honorary Voluntears Cavalcade" the photos are graciously supplied by disneygeek.com for us to see. The stars of this new parade are The Muppets.

There are some great details on the float.

Disney's California Adventure Expansion Update

2010-01-13T06:20:00.000-08:00

As you may know Disney's California Adventure is in the middle of a $1.1 bilion dollar expansion. Recently the streets of Hollywood Pictures Backlot have been blocked of and are being replace with tracks for the new red trolly line as seen here.

Also Disney has released on their blog a new video about their expansion prodject that can be seen here.

The expansion should be complete in 2012.

Welcome

2010-01-12T10:27:00.001-08:00

Welcome to Think Disney this site will give up to date news regarding all of the Disney parks as well as the history of the parks. Site is under construction but will be up in running soon.