Sunday, December 5, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
ElecTRONica Is Here! - Part 1
Yes, ElecTRONica has arrived at the Disneyland Resort and is filling the hole that was left behind by Glowfest. The following information is from the Disneyland Resort website:
"This high-energy street festival ignites Hollywood Pictures Backlot with fun for the whole family. Journey under the Recognizer and get swept into The Grid, where a live D.J. spins techno and dance music. Check out TRON: Legacy 3D Sneak Peek. Watch Sirens groove to the beats of Daft Punk and others, while digitally projected Lightcycles zoom around you. Face off with enemies and allies at Flynn's Arcade. Try incandescent concoctions at the End of the Line club. Be amazed by an eclectic array of street performers, including laser and martial artists."
Above, is the official concept art for ElecTRONica and below, is a photo of the Hollywood Pictures Backlot entrance.
The ElecTRONica overlay is a little bit "darker" than Glowfest.
This piece of concept art shows the "Hollywood Studios" section of the Hollywood Backlot.
The structure that guests are walking under is "The Recognizer".
Here's a better view of it in the daytime.
It appears to have been built over the existing Hollywood Studios arch. Here's a "before" shot:
And here's the view from the other side:
While we're in this area, let's take a brief detour and visit my old friend from Walt Disney World. Hey wait a minute, "One Of Our Sea Serpents Is Missing!" The Sea Serpent from EPCOT to be specific. I wonder if he will be making a return or if he is gone for good? There's nothing left in this area now except for some rust spots on the ground where the former World of Motion props once sat.......
.....oh, and these four columns.
Back to ElecTRONica.....a DJ booth now sits on top of the Sorcerer's Apprentice fountain.
Here's a "before" shot. It looks like Mickey may have been removed for the temporary overlay.
At night, dancers perform in this area.
Across the way in the Muppet theater, a 3-D film plays giving guests a sneak peek of the upcoming "TRON: Legacy" which opens on December 17th.
A recreation of a light cycle from the film sits outside the doors to the theater.
Here's a shot taken with the "dreaded" camera flash, but it helps to show the figure on top of the cycle a little better.
The diner set in this area now has a function! A bar and lounge area have been added to it.
A daytime shot:
And a "before" shot:
Next door, a recreation of Flynn's Arcade from "TRON: Legacy" has been set up in the old Hollywood and Dine restaurant space.
Please check back for Part 2 of this post where we will go inside Flynn's and have a look around. We will also take a look at a piece of Tron ephemera that I have saved since the early 1980's.
POST UPDATE: Click (HERE) for Part 2 of this series.
"This high-energy street festival ignites Hollywood Pictures Backlot with fun for the whole family. Journey under the Recognizer and get swept into The Grid, where a live D.J. spins techno and dance music. Check out TRON: Legacy 3D Sneak Peek. Watch Sirens groove to the beats of Daft Punk and others, while digitally projected Lightcycles zoom around you. Face off with enemies and allies at Flynn's Arcade. Try incandescent concoctions at the End of the Line club. Be amazed by an eclectic array of street performers, including laser and martial artists."
Above, is the official concept art for ElecTRONica and below, is a photo of the Hollywood Pictures Backlot entrance.
The ElecTRONica overlay is a little bit "darker" than Glowfest.
This piece of concept art shows the "Hollywood Studios" section of the Hollywood Backlot.
The structure that guests are walking under is "The Recognizer".
Here's a better view of it in the daytime.
It appears to have been built over the existing Hollywood Studios arch. Here's a "before" shot:
And here's the view from the other side:
While we're in this area, let's take a brief detour and visit my old friend from Walt Disney World. Hey wait a minute, "One Of Our Sea Serpents Is Missing!" The Sea Serpent from EPCOT to be specific. I wonder if he will be making a return or if he is gone for good? There's nothing left in this area now except for some rust spots on the ground where the former World of Motion props once sat.......
.....oh, and these four columns.
Back to ElecTRONica.....a DJ booth now sits on top of the Sorcerer's Apprentice fountain.
Here's a "before" shot. It looks like Mickey may have been removed for the temporary overlay.
At night, dancers perform in this area.
Across the way in the Muppet theater, a 3-D film plays giving guests a sneak peek of the upcoming "TRON: Legacy" which opens on December 17th.
A recreation of a light cycle from the film sits outside the doors to the theater.
Here's a shot taken with the "dreaded" camera flash, but it helps to show the figure on top of the cycle a little better.
The diner set in this area now has a function! A bar and lounge area have been added to it.
A daytime shot:
And a "before" shot:
Next door, a recreation of Flynn's Arcade from "TRON: Legacy" has been set up in the old Hollywood and Dine restaurant space.
Please check back for Part 2 of this post where we will go inside Flynn's and have a look around. We will also take a look at a piece of Tron ephemera that I have saved since the early 1980's.
POST UPDATE: Click (HERE) for Part 2 of this series.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Mickey's Month at Disneyland - 1983
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I don't have anymore "Thanksgiving Weekend at Disneyland" items to post, because I posted all of them last year. But since it's still November, here are a few Disneyland items from November of 1983. The park was having another month-long celebration in honor of Mickey's birthday. Last year, I posted a vintage Disneyland trip report from November of 1982 which included photos and souvenir items from "Mickey's Month." The entertainment guide below has the same cover as the guide for 1982, but there are some changes in the entertainment listings.
There wasn't a Mickey's Birthday Parade this year. The "Flights of Fantasy" parade had made it's debut in the summer of '83 along with the opening of the "New Fantasyland." And since Mousercise was the latest rage, kids could join Kellyn from the Disney Channel TV Show for some aerobic fun over by It's A Small World.
The Disney Channel was also making it's debut in 1983. This ad is from the back cover of the guide.
In 1982 and 1983, guests were handed a free gift at the main entrance during Mickey's Month. This year's gift was a headband that could be worn during your Mousercise workout. To see a photo of some kids at Disneyland actually wearing these as they worked out with Kellyn, click here for a great vintage photo from blogger, "Disney On Parole."
Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures during this "Mickey's Month" visit like I had the previous year, but I'm going to include a couple extra items from around the same time to make up for the short post today. This first one is a newspaper ad from 1983 for the Disney Channel.
And this last item is for the California Teachers Association Party that was held at Disneyland in November of 1983. Admission to Disneyland, plus unlimited use of all attractions and shows for only $7.00...and parking was included! What a deal!
There wasn't a Mickey's Birthday Parade this year. The "Flights of Fantasy" parade had made it's debut in the summer of '83 along with the opening of the "New Fantasyland." And since Mousercise was the latest rage, kids could join Kellyn from the Disney Channel TV Show for some aerobic fun over by It's A Small World.
The Disney Channel was also making it's debut in 1983. This ad is from the back cover of the guide.
In 1982 and 1983, guests were handed a free gift at the main entrance during Mickey's Month. This year's gift was a headband that could be worn during your Mousercise workout. To see a photo of some kids at Disneyland actually wearing these as they worked out with Kellyn, click here for a great vintage photo from blogger, "Disney On Parole."
Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures during this "Mickey's Month" visit like I had the previous year, but I'm going to include a couple extra items from around the same time to make up for the short post today. This first one is a newspaper ad from 1983 for the Disney Channel.
And this last item is for the California Teachers Association Party that was held at Disneyland in November of 1983. Admission to Disneyland, plus unlimited use of all attractions and shows for only $7.00...and parking was included! What a deal!
Speaking of deals, if anyone plans to go shopping tomorrow on "Black Friday", be safe and watch out for the crazies who will trample you just to get their hands on a Cabbage Patch Doll, a Teddy Ruxpin, or a Tickle Me Elmo.
*****POST UPDATE***** (May 2024)
I recently came across this Los Angeles Times ad for "Mickey's Month," from the following year (1984). It looks like the Mousercise headbands were no longer being given out to all guests entering the park, and were now only being given to children 12 and under. CHEAP! Of course, today, they would not be giving them out to anyone. Guests would have to pay dearly for them.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Captain EO-Land - Tokyo Disneyland
When Captain EO returned to Disneyland back in February of this year, I did a post that I called "Captain EO-Land" which covered Disneyland's Magic Eye Theater and everything that had resided in it's spot dating all the way back to the Flying Saucers attraction. Well, Captain EO has also returned to Tokyo Disneyland, so for today's post we will be taking a look at the history of that attraction space in Tokyo's Magic Kingdom.
Let's begin at the entrance to Tokyo's Tomorrowland, which still resembles Walt Disney World's original Tomorrowland entrance (and I hope Tokyo never alters theirs!) The theater that features Captain EO can be found on the left/north side of Tomorrowland, just inside the entrance way.
When Tokyo Disneyland first opened in April of 1983, the debut attraction in this theater was a film titled, "The Eternal Sea."
This film was shown in a 120° format and explored man's relationship with the sea. "The Eternal Sea" was an attraction that was unique to Tokyo Disneyland.
In January of 1985, "The Eternal Sea" was replaced with the 3-D film, "Magic Journeys."
This film had made it's debut at EPCOT Center on opening day in 1982 and was also shown at night on the Space Stage at Disneyland.
Don't let the change in name or that exclamation point at the end of the title fool you. It was just as boring in Japan as it was here in the U.S. I have never been a fan of this attraction, but because TDL has better versions of many other familiar Disney attractions (like Winnie the Pooh, Monsters Inc., and Indiana Jones, just to name a few), I thought I would check the film out just to see if they had somehow improved upon it. Well, they didn't! It was just as painful as ever to sit through. The film was dubbed in Japanese, but there were phones installed at the seats towards the back of the theater so that guests could listen to the film translated into English or Korean.
Let's begin at the entrance to Tokyo's Tomorrowland, which still resembles Walt Disney World's original Tomorrowland entrance (and I hope Tokyo never alters theirs!) The theater that features Captain EO can be found on the left/north side of Tomorrowland, just inside the entrance way.
When Tokyo Disneyland first opened in April of 1983, the debut attraction in this theater was a film titled, "The Eternal Sea."
This film was shown in a 120° format and explored man's relationship with the sea. "The Eternal Sea" was an attraction that was unique to Tokyo Disneyland.
In January of 1985, "The Eternal Sea" was replaced with the 3-D film, "Magic Journeys."
This film had made it's debut at EPCOT Center on opening day in 1982 and was also shown at night on the Space Stage at Disneyland.
As with Disneyland and EPCOT Center, Magic Journeys at Tokyo Disneyland was replaced by Captain EO. Captain EO opened at TDL in March 1987 and ran until September 1996.
Eventually, all four Disney parks that featured Captain EO (Paris included) replaced it with the very unfunny "Honey I Shrunk The Audience." In Tokyo, this film was given the title, "MICRO ADVENTURE!"
Don't let the change in name or that exclamation point at the end of the title fool you. It was just as boring in Japan as it was here in the U.S. I have never been a fan of this attraction, but because TDL has better versions of many other familiar Disney attractions (like Winnie the Pooh, Monsters Inc., and Indiana Jones, just to name a few), I thought I would check the film out just to see if they had somehow improved upon it. Well, they didn't! It was just as painful as ever to sit through. The film was dubbed in Japanese, but there were phones installed at the seats towards the back of the theater so that guests could listen to the film translated into English or Korean.
Here's the cover of the TDL guidebook from 1997 touting MicroAdventure! as their newest attraction.
More info from inside the guidebook:
Tokyo Disneyland retained their individual ticket system for their attractions much longer than Disneyland or Walt Disney World. The Tomorrowland attraction listing below, shows that MicroAdventure actually required an "E" ticket!
Once individual tickets were elimated, "Fastpass" was added to the attraction. The very first time I visited TDL, Fastpasses were available for MicroAdventure, but I remember being able to just walk right in without one. I probably should have gotten a Fastpass anyway, just to retain as a souvenir because by the next time I visited the park, the Fastpass machines were all covered up. The photo below shows the covers over the machines.....and look, two people are actually entering the attraction. Hey, I recommend using those next 23 minutes of your life to do something else! Go see Country Bear Jamboree or The Mickey Mouse Revue!
This close-up shows the Fastpass sign with the return time turned off.
And now we come to the happy part of this post. MicroAdventure was removed from Tokyo Disneyland earlier this year and replaced with Captain EO! (Actually, they are claiming that MicroAdventure is "on hiatus" right now, but hopefully it won't be coming back.)
Tokyo Disneyland retained their individual ticket system for their attractions much longer than Disneyland or Walt Disney World. The Tomorrowland attraction listing below, shows that MicroAdventure actually required an "E" ticket!
Once individual tickets were elimated, "Fastpass" was added to the attraction. The very first time I visited TDL, Fastpasses were available for MicroAdventure, but I remember being able to just walk right in without one. I probably should have gotten a Fastpass anyway, just to retain as a souvenir because by the next time I visited the park, the Fastpass machines were all covered up. The photo below shows the covers over the machines.....and look, two people are actually entering the attraction. Hey, I recommend using those next 23 minutes of your life to do something else! Go see Country Bear Jamboree or The Mickey Mouse Revue!
This close-up shows the Fastpass sign with the return time turned off.
And now we come to the happy part of this post. MicroAdventure was removed from Tokyo Disneyland earlier this year and replaced with Captain EO! (Actually, they are claiming that MicroAdventure is "on hiatus" right now, but hopefully it won't be coming back.)
Before:
After:
Here's what the queue for MicroAdventure looked like in it's last years. The first photo shows the "extended" portion of the queue.....EMPTY! Note the Fastpass sign with the canvas cover over it.
Here's the main part of the queue.....EMPTY!
Now here's a photo that was taken just three weeks ago showing the same section of queue with people waiting to see Captain EO.....and yes, the line did curve around at the end of the building and filled up the "extended" queue area.
The covers are now off of the Fastpass signs!
The covers are also off of the Fastpass machines.
The digital reading on the Fastpass sign doesn't register in the photograph, but I can tell you that the Standby wait time was 80 minutes when I took this picture!
This Captain EO Fastpass was obtained at 1:50 p.m. and the return time was for 6:20 p.m.
After:
Here's what the queue for MicroAdventure looked like in it's last years. The first photo shows the "extended" portion of the queue.....EMPTY! Note the Fastpass sign with the canvas cover over it.
Here's the main part of the queue.....EMPTY!
Now here's a photo that was taken just three weeks ago showing the same section of queue with people waiting to see Captain EO.....and yes, the line did curve around at the end of the building and filled up the "extended" queue area.
The covers are now off of the Fastpass signs!
The covers are also off of the Fastpass machines.
The digital reading on the Fastpass sign doesn't register in the photograph, but I can tell you that the Standby wait time was 80 minutes when I took this picture!
This Captain EO Fastpass was obtained at 1:50 p.m. and the return time was for 6:20 p.m.
Now let's venture on into the waiting area and take a look around.
These four signs feature "three dimensional" images of the cast.
These next two signs contain the lyrics to "Another Part Of Me" and "We Are Here To Change The World" both in English and Japanese.
A row of inverted triangles hangs over the waiting area. The pre-show film is the same "making of" film that is shown at Disneyland in Anaheim.
When the pre-show film concludes, the triangles all change to the colors of the rainbow.
Now it's time to enter the theater....
The film is presented in English and it's pretty much the same as it is here in the U.S. As for the theater "motion" in Tokyo, there was one big difference. The theater did not move as dramtically, or as often as it does at Disneyland. Since Captain EO did not reopen in Tokyo until July and it had already made it's return to Anaheim in February, I am wondering if they listened to the guest complaints about the continuous "thumping" of the theater being annoying.
Anaheim's Captain EO does not have this message at the end of their film.
We'll end with just a few miscellaneous photos. Here's a slightly blurry shot of the theater's exterior at night. The neon triangles in the waiting area can be seen through the windows.
The Captain EO employees all wear this special embroidered patch that hangs from their namebadges. I want one of those!
Planet M, which is the main souvenir store in Tomorrowland, has a variety of Captain EO merchandise....including post cards, stickers, key chains, T-shirts and attraction posters. None of Tokyo's Captain EO merchandise.....or their attraction signage for that matter, includes the word "Tribute" below the title as it does in Anaheim.
These four signs feature "three dimensional" images of the cast.
These next two signs contain the lyrics to "Another Part Of Me" and "We Are Here To Change The World" both in English and Japanese.
A row of inverted triangles hangs over the waiting area. The pre-show film is the same "making of" film that is shown at Disneyland in Anaheim.
When the pre-show film concludes, the triangles all change to the colors of the rainbow.
Now it's time to enter the theater....
The film is presented in English and it's pretty much the same as it is here in the U.S. As for the theater "motion" in Tokyo, there was one big difference. The theater did not move as dramtically, or as often as it does at Disneyland. Since Captain EO did not reopen in Tokyo until July and it had already made it's return to Anaheim in February, I am wondering if they listened to the guest complaints about the continuous "thumping" of the theater being annoying.
Anaheim's Captain EO does not have this message at the end of their film.
We'll end with just a few miscellaneous photos. Here's a slightly blurry shot of the theater's exterior at night. The neon triangles in the waiting area can be seen through the windows.
The Captain EO employees all wear this special embroidered patch that hangs from their namebadges. I want one of those!
Planet M, which is the main souvenir store in Tomorrowland, has a variety of Captain EO merchandise....including post cards, stickers, key chains, T-shirts and attraction posters. None of Tokyo's Captain EO merchandise.....or their attraction signage for that matter, includes the word "Tribute" below the title as it does in Anaheim.
That concludes this tour of Tokyo's Captain EO-Land!
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