Progress City, U.S.A.

Not so long ago I posted the rumor that the theater at Hollywood Studios formerly occupied by SuperStar Television would become home to a new attraction based on the television show American Idol. Oh how I hoped it was just a rumor…

Note the roiling flames of perdition in the background
as they approach to consume the park

By the end of the year an “American Idol” attraction will open at Hollywood Studios in the theater formerly occupied by SuperStar Television. Blerg. Read the press release; I elect not to cite it here until mine gag reflex hath abated ever so.

Oh Jay Rasulo, why do you hate my soul so?

Get ready to rock kids - HIP AND EDGY is back with a vengeance. Kudos to Screamscape, though, who were the first in the scope of my knowledge to publish this rumor last year. That’s good scoopin’, boys.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I had been working on a Carousel of Progress story for the last couple of days but my eye has a date with a screwdriver to enact an homage to Un Chien Andalou.

Yesterday, Disney went live with their new webpage for Toy Story Mania!, the new attraction for Disney-MGM Studios and California Adventure (where it will be known as Toy Story Midway Mania). The page (pictured above) is still rather sparse, but features a few pieces of concept art and behind the scenes images (through the ViewMaster on the left) and a short video blurb by Imagineer Tom “Walking, Talking Press Release” Fitzgerald (via the videocamera on the right).

The attraction, an interactive dark ride set to open next year, seems to be a combination of two earlier concepts. It’s partially a next-generation Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, but instead of dimensional sets and laser guns the ride will use computer animation and stereoscopic 3-D effects to simulate a shooting gallery environment. As can be seen in the pictures on the site, the “spring action shooters” that are attached to the ride vehicles seem quite similar to the cannons in the Pirates of the Caribbean shooting game at DisneyQuest. Toy Story Mania! thus seems to combine the VR technology of the Pirates attraction with Buzz Lightyear’s omnimover system.

In the ride, guests will pull back the spring on the shooters attached to their vehicles, launching a virtual projectile at a series of targets themed to different environments and characters from the Toy Story films. Guests will wear 3-D glasses, giving a depth of field to the shooting galleries and adding realism. One of the more interesting aspects of the attraction is that the computers running the show will change the difficulty level for each individual rider based on their skill, thus changing the show every time you ride it.

So load your shooters, take a double dose of your A.D.D. medicine and head on over to Disney’s site for a preview. Be sure and enjoy Fitzgerald talking about “the classic carnival games that we all know and love”… whatever, dude. The L.A. Times has also posted a short article about the attraction.

A few weeks ago the folks at Disney HQ announced something that the net nabobs had been expecting for a long time - a name change for the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park in Orlando. These rumors go way, way back - litigation over the name began even before the park opened and extended well into the 1990’s. MGM management at the time realized that their predecessors had been totally chumped by Disney when they brokered the sweetheart deal over licensing rights, and have been trying to increase their take ever since.

So, for years we’ve been treated to a constant stream of rumors. “This is the year the contract is over… look for the name to change.” “Next year the contract with MGM is running out - it’s going to be Disney Studios then.” The park has been referred to as “Disney Studios” on WDW promotional videos for years, and the name change was always rumored to be right around the corner.

Things heated up again with the Disney - Pixar merger. The rumor mill started cranking with tales of the impending announcement of “Disney-Pixar Studios Theme Park”. Counter-rumors circulated that a thawing relationship with George Lucas after the departure of Michael Eisner would lead to an increased Lucasfilm presence in the park, and out of respect for that “Pixar” would be dropped from the name or “Lucas” added in some way. People photoshopped park logos with Mickey and their favorite Pixar character; various rumor sites contradicted each other but they mostly all agreed that the jury was still out at WDI on what to do with the park.

So, finally we get the announcement that WDW fans have been waiting for for at least a decade, and it’s something that no one had expected: in January 2008, the park will become “Disney’s Hollywood Studios”. No one really expected this name, and the web immediately began circulating with stories that it wasn’t necessarily a permanent name, and that it would change sometime in the near future once certain improvements were made to the park. But for now “Hollywood Studios” it is.

What does this all mean, really? Well, in the words of Walt Disney World president Meg Crofton, “as a park all about entertainment, Disney’s Hollywood Studios will deliver like never before. Now we can say that Hollywood is literally our middle name.” Now aside from the fact that someone in PR actually got paid to write that press release, this big name change is worth just about as much as the handful of crumpled paper in the dustbin beside my desk. Namely, very little. The Studios theme park is a mess; a disaster of both theme and execution, and is in more desperate need of immediate and massive overhaul than I think WDC realizes. Slapping a new name on the marquee won’t change that; if this park is really going to catch up to its Florida siblings, the folks in Burbank are going to have to get serious about commiting to change.

(more…)

Recently, Bob Iger and Co. unveiled plans for an extensive overhaul of Disney’s California Adventure. Nestled among the plans including blockbuster attractions in Carsland and a complete redo of the opening plaza was a long-shelved attraction based on The Little Mermaid. Disney followers will know that this was originally planned for EuroDisney, and can even virtually ride through the planned attraction on the Special Edition Little Mermaid DVD.

This excites me, not only because it is clear that the new regime at WDI is dusting off plans for fifteen year old rides, but because the scene shown in all press releases is the “Kiss The Girl” scene. In addition, there’s a wonderful “Under the Sea” scene on the version of the ride shown on the DVD. One way or another, you know that with a Little Mermaid attraction you are going to get good songs. These Alan Menken and Howard Ashman ditties have stood the test of time, even surviving 80’s musical production values.

Expect DCA visitors to be spotted later in the day in queue for Grizzly Soak’n Wet Wild Ride or lounging in the new Beergarten to still be humming along or outright singing these songs hours later. It is an art that until recently I thought lost to Disney theme parks. In the age of Test Tracks, Mission Spaces, and even the wonderful Tower of Terror, you do not get many songs for your buck anymore.

True, the Mermaid attraction is in a way cheating, because these songs are already well known and were paid for years ago. It’s a step in the right direction. All the heavy hitting attractions of Walt’s later years have wonderful songs written just for them: “Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life For Me)” for Pirates, “Grim Grinning Ghosts” for Haunted Mansion, and the most polarizing and infectious, “It’s A Small World,” on which the entire attraction hinges.

Even less blockbuster attractions recieved their due in musical attention. “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” and later “Now Is The Time” for Carousel of Progress, all the wonderful music involved in the Enchanted Tiki Room and the Country Bear Jamboree. “Miracles in Molecules” for Disneyland’s Tomorrowland, and “Meet Me Down On Main Street.” I challenge a man to walk out of Carousel of Progress or It’s a Small World not at least humming, even if it makes them feel foolish.

There’s merit in this. After all, part of the “Disney Difference” in corporatespeak is to “Preserve the Magical Guest Experience.” Listening to these songs on record at home had a very transportative property that would put me back at WDW, just as much as a strange sulfurlike smell would make me think that Rome was burning.

Speaking of which, this song argument is one that I would throw to the wolves to argue the greatness of EPCOT in its early years pre-Epcot 95 identity crisis. Every attraction had great music to back it up, and I weep for the younger generation growing up without these songs. “Fun to Be Free,” “Listen To The Land,” “Tomorrow’s Child,” “New Horizons,” both Energy songs (not to mention the infectious song from El Rio de Tiempo) - these are all lost to us now, except from downloadable devices. At least “One Little Spark,” one of the Sherman Brothers classics survives in revised and weakened form. Consider it a lesson learned, WDI.

I believe they have considered it of late, actually. Two examples in recent EPCOT work leads me to believe all is not lost. Though at the expense of the previously mentioned song, the new El Rio De Tiempo, The Gran Fiesta Tour, showcases an even older theme from The Three Cabalieros.

Even more exciting news is over at The Seas with Nemo and Friends, as well as Finding Nemo The Musical. There Avenue Q composer Robert Lopez and his wife, Kristen Anderson-Lopez were commissioned to write all new numbers AFTER the movie came out, including the wonderful “(In The) Big Blue World.” Immediately, the humming and post ride singing returns to EPCOT - and, for a moment, all appears to be on track.

Until next time, this is Beacon Joe signing off.