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When you talk about Star Tours nowadays, you have to distinguish between the new and improved version that just opened this year and the classic incarnation, which was first launched in 1987. Personally, I haven’t been on the new version and I’m sure many of you haven’t yet either, which is why it’s so exciting to read about. Of course, the classic ride was something all Disneyland lovers recall with fondness, so I’ll be sure to include plenty of info on that one as well, including the history of the ride itself.
Image via inturnaround [Flickr]
While Star Tours eventually became the first Disney ride based on a film the company had nothing to do with, it didn’t start out that way. Originally the ride was conceived to go along with the 1979 Disney film The Black Hole. The ride was intended to be an interactive simulator that allowed guests the opportunity to choose the car’s route, but because the project was going to be so expensive (ringing in at an estimated $50 million) and the film wasn’t a big success, the idea was quickly shelved.
Fortunately, rather than trashing the idea altogether, the company decided to partner with George Lucas, who was already working with them to produce Captain EO. Once everyone agreed to the idea, the Imagineers started work on the project by buying four military-grade flight simulators that cost $500,000 each and then they started designing the building and ride around their new toys.
While the Imagineers worked on the technical side of the project, Lucas and his team at Industrial Light & Magic worked on the film that would be played inside the simulators. Once the simulators and film were up to speed, a programmer then had to sit inside with a joystick to manually synchronize the vehicle’s movements to the action on screen.
By the time the project was completed in 1987, the ride cost a total of $32 million, which was almost twice the cost Disney paid to build the entire park back in 1955. To celebrate the official opening, and to help promote the new ride, the grand opening of Star Tours coincided with the park being left open for 60 straight hours starting on January 9, 1987 at 10 am.
Image via popculturegeek.com [Flickr]
Have you ever wondered what Disneyland had to offer before it began getting massive, modernizing facelifts? Then take a look at this old map of the magical kingdom from 1962, scanned and uploaded in full size by Wishbook, with lots of classic Disney character heads surrounding a detailed, Imagineer drawn map! Look for the view all sizes button on Flickr and choose original size if you want to read the tiny text, and see all the pretty little drawings up close.
Link via Boing Boing.
Illustrator Claire Hummel has taken a look at the Disney princesses with a historical eye, from Snow White’s 16th-century Germany setting to Belle’s late 18th century French environment. She found that the clothes they wore didn’t match up to the historical settings very well and decided to set things straight. Here’s what Claire had to say about her interpretation of Jasmine from Aladdin (above):
“Let’s be frank — Aladdin is hardly an exercise in historical accuracy… It took some effort to track down some midriff-baring outfits but BY GEORGE I DID, thank you Persian fashion plates. I now know what sirwal are called (besides Hammer pants), and that Persian women wore some pretty sweet little jackets that I wish I owned.”
You can read about the rest of her findings over at Flavorwire. Prints are available on Claire’s site – wouldn’t they be a lovely addition to the room of a princess-obsessed little girl?
Link via Flavorwire
Carl and Ellie’s dream house from the movie Up! comes to life in Herriman, Utah, with Disney’s blessing. At Lovely Listing, you can also see a bit of the inside, too. Link
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Walt Disney World in Florida is a mecca for tourists now, but back in the early 1960s, it was just swampland. Walt had his choice of many locations, so why did he choose the Orlando area? An article at mental_floss has the answer. But even after he decided on the site, buying the land and building on it had their own problems.
Although he had solved the problem of where to build, a new dilemma cropped up: Walt knew if he was making queries about buying land under his own name, the insanely cheap swampland price of $180 an acre would immediately skyrocket. To avoid price gouging, he created a number of fake companies and purchased the land under their names instead. It only worked for a little while – the Orlando Sentinel caught whiff of the scheme and published a story reporting that Walt was the man behind the purchase of thousands of acres of land in Orange and Osceola counties. He was right about the money – in some cases, prices went up to $80,000 an acre.
Of course, the property now is worth its weight in gold. Link
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I’ve always been impressed with dollhouses, but this particular one owned by silent filmstar Colleen Moore is truly amazing. Its opulent interior includes a mural of Cinderella painted by Walt Disney himself and chandeliers with real diamonds and emeralds. Read more about it over at Mental Floss.
Disney has commissioned Southern California native artist NOAH to work his airbrush magic on a painting for their upcoming D23 Expo, which will feature movies celebrating an anniversary this year, like 101 Dalmatians and Alice In Wonderland. This illuminating video shows the master at work on the classic Disney inspired painting featuring a realistic portrait of Walt and a ‘toony Sorcerer Mickey causing lots of colorful trouble. Link
These days, it seems there’s a tool to alter photos into just about every character type you can imagine, but if you can’t get enough of these…or if you just love Captain Jack Sparrow, don’t miss out on Disney’s Pirate Yourself app on FaceBook. That’s mine up there.
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The Sunshine Pavilion at Walt Disney World in Florida, home of the magical Tiki Birds, opened in 1971 with a show modeled on the older Disneyworld version. Many longtime Disney theme park fans objected when the Tiki Room’s “Under New Management” show debuted in 1998 featuring Zazu from The Lion King and Iago from Aladdin. Now that the attraction had a forced retooling after it was severely damaged by a fire in January, the show will be changed yet again -to be more like the original Disneyland (California) show.
The “new management” has been let go and the future of the Adventureland landmark is in the wings and wit of José, Fritz, Michael and Pierre – four crooning parrot hosts who ushered in sophisticated Audio-Animatronics technology at California’s Disneyland in 1963 at The Enchanted Tiki Room.
The attraction, to be renamed The Enchanted Tiki Room, is scheduled to reopen in August. Link -via Boing Boing
Previously: Neatorama Facts: The Enchanted Tiki Room
These new Muppet figures dressed as Star Wars characters will be sold at Disney theme parks beginning this fall. You’ll see Sam the Eagle as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Beaker as C-3PO, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew as R2-D2, Fozzy the Bear as Chewbacca, Link Hogthrob as Han Solo, Kermit as Luke Skywalker, Miss Piggy as Princess Leia, Gonzo as Darth Vader, and his chicken Camilla as a Storm Trooper. Link -via Geeks Are Sexy
Osama bin Laden was one thing, but The Mouse? I think the Navy’s SEAL Team 6 is in for bruiser of a fight. You see, it has a new bigger and badder adversary: Disney and its team of lawyers.
SEAL Team 6 isn’t going down without a fight.
The Navy is challenging Disney’s attempt to trademark the name of the elite squad responsible for taking out the world’s most wanted terrorist.On May 3, just two days after Usama bin Laden was killed in a raid on the Al Qaeda leader’s Pakistan compound, Disney filed trademark applications to use the name "SEAL Team 6" on everything from entertainment, toys, video games, clothing, footwear — even Christmas ornaments and snow globes.
Disney’s applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office filed cover three separate categories of goods and services — meaning, they don’t yet have consumer products but intend to in the future.
But 10 days later, on May 13, the U.S. Navy hit back, filing two applications of its own. The Navy’s competing applications sought trademark status for "SEAL Team" posters and clothing, as well as “Navy SEAL” goods and services, identifying the Navy squad as an organization that “develops and executes military missions involving special operations strategy, doctrine and tactics."
Chewbacca and an Ewok do Guns ‘N’ Roses to get the crowd fired up for Star Wars Weekend 2011 at Walt Disney World. Continue on to see the full 24-minute dance-off show. -via Geeks Are Sexy
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Disney fans rejoice, it’s time for yet another set of Neatorama Facts featuring the Happiest Place on Earth. This time, we’re taking a detailed look at “the wildest ride in the wilderness,” Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
Image via Mastery of Maps [Flickr]
Most of the definitive “Disney” rides seem to have been created specifically for Disneyland long before they were added to Disney World and the other parks, but Big Thunder Mountain started out in exactly the opposite way. This time, the ride was originally conceived as part of a new Magic Kingdom area called the Western River Expedition, a Western-themed area similar to Frontierland. The area would look like a big plateau and contain a number of rides, including a runaway mine train roller coaster. Unfortunately, because the park just opened Pirates of the Caribbean, the area was considered too expensive to install, so Imaginer Tony Baxter proposed building just the coaster as a separate attraction, which would instead be added to Disneyland park first. While that idea was approved, the project way put on hold so the team could focus on Space Mountain.
The delay in the project actually turned out to be a good thing though, as it meant the developers were allowed to use computers to design the coaster, allowing for a smoother ride than one designed by hand. Big Thunder Mountain was actually the first ride to use a computer to design the track, but because it was a brand new technology, the creation process was actually anything but smooth.
While ride designers knew what would look good, the computer wanted the ride to be as simple and smooth as possible. So the imagineers had to submit nine different designs before the computer finally accepted one without automatically making changes that would make it less attractive.
Eventually the design was accepted upon by all parties and construction started. The ride opened first in Disneyland in 1979 and a larger version opened in the Magic Kingdom a year later.
Image via Sally Ann French [Flickr]
Belle does look into that mirror an awful lot, doesn’t she? Artist Chris Hill noticed now nicely the princesses seem to match up with the Seven Deadly Sins. Ariel as Greed? Nailed it. His non-Disney Rapunzel is awesome as well.
Link via Flavorwire
Disney dorks like me will find this peek at Donald Duck’s lineage fascinating. Drawn by comic artist Don Rosa, it first appeared in “Walt Disney’s Comics (and Stories)” in 1995. It gives us a peek at little-known characters like “Sir Swamphole McDuck” and “Humperdink Duck.” What’s up with the mystery around Huey, Dewie and Louie’s dad?
You can also see what names the characters go by in other parts of the world by clicking on their English names. Daisy, for example, is also known as Margarida (Portuguese), Katrien (Dutch), Paperina (Italian) and Dolly (Norwegian).
As many times as I’ve seen the 1932 Disney cartoon The Three Little Pigs, I have never noticed the portrait of the wall of “Father.” Have you? Link
To commemorate Prince William and Kate Middleton’s upcoming nuptials, Executive Pastry Chef Laurent Branlard of the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort created Kate’s famous engagement ring out of sugar. He also created one of Princess Diana’s famous tiaras. It took him 30 hours to do both.
If you won’t be in England to see any of the gems in person this weekend, maybe you can make it to Florida – the sugary creations are on display in the lobby of the Dolphin hotel through the wedding events of this weekend. Link-via Cakewrecks
Photo link
Comments Off Walt Disney Imagineering is updating the features of the Haunted Mansion. Here’s a look at how they are changing the beloved “hitchhiking ghosts.” -via Boing Boing
I’ve seen this effect at the Magic Kingdom in Disney World (they also do it at Disneyland) and thought it was cool, but some of these examples Mashable put together are even more impressive. My favorite of the bunch is the projection on the Kharkov State Building in the Ukraine (above).
After recently updating the exterior queue at the Haunted Mansion, the good folks at Disney World have unveiled some new tricks on the inside as well.
Remember Nick Pitera, the guy who sang the A Whole New World duet from Disney’s Aladdin all by himself? Well, he’s back with this: a one-man chorus singing a medley paying homage to a few of his Disney favorite films. And this time, he’s got costumes!
Hit play or go to Link [YouTube]
Comments Off Your cadaverous pallor betrays an aura of foreboding, almost as though you sense a disquieting metamorphosis. Is the Haunted Mansion actually getting an interactive queue?
You don’t need to be Madame Leota to predict that the answer is yes. Changes currently in place at the manse at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World include busts that will whisper the stories of their deaths to people waiting in line, interactive wall plaques and a replica of the organ inside the Mansion that plays parts of “Grim Grinning Ghosts.” Word is there’s more to come.
My favorite part, I think, is the new mausoleum that pithily pays tribute to Disney legends:
We haven’t heard much from Neatorama author StacyBee lately. A new baby takes up a lot of your life, but Stacy managed to find the time to run the Disney Princess half-marathon at Walt Disney World in Florida. The event raised money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Yeah, ignore that time. It’s awful. But I finished!
And I had a good time – I got to run through the Magic Kingdom before the park opened. I got to limp through Epcot before it opened. I got to gaze at 17,000 women (and some men… really, I saw a very hairy Cinderella) in tutus, tiaras and even nude-colored leotards with shell appliques over the boobs (an homage to Ariel, of course).
And she got a tiara! Way to go, Stacy! Link
Love it or hate it, It’s A Small World is undoubtedly a catchy song and an iconic Disney attraction. But did you know the ride was actually made on the fly as a last minute World’s Fair attraction or that it was originally slated to feature a variety of national anthems instead of its title track? Here are some fascinating facts you might not know about one of the park’s most popular rides.
Image via Thomas Hawk [Flickr]
One of Disney’s most iconic attractions actually started out as a last minute attraction to the 1964 New York World’s Fair. The team was already working on a number of exhibits for the fair, including the Magic Skyway, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and The Carousel of Progress, when the program manager for the fair reached out to Disney and asked him to creat a tribute to UNICEF.
Always up to a challenge, Disney agreed and asked Mary Blair, Marc Davis, Alice Davis and Gregory S. Marinello for help. Mary gave the ride its overall feel and whimsy and inspired the general character design. Marc designed the scenes and the specific characters, while his wife, Alice, designed the costumes. Gregory designed the clock face on the exterior. Walt oversaw the design of the doll’s faces, which were all made to be exactly the same in order to promote the concept that all around the world children are all the same deep down.
Image via Andy Castro [Flickr]
The original nickname of the ride was “the happiest cruise that ever sailed” and the ride was intended to showcase the national anthem for each country portrayed. Unfortunately, this ended up sounding like a terrible mess in practice, so he hired the Sherman Brothers, the same gents who wrote the theme song for the Tiki Room, to create a song that would unify the ride’s characters together. It was only after the boys came back with their masterpiece that the ride got its name.
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In a continuation of a series (see parts one, two, and three), photographer Annie Leibovitz has unveiled three more Disney Dream Portraits starring famous actors. Shown are Jeff Bridges and Penelope Cruz in a scene from Beauty and the Beast. Other pictures show Olivia Wilde as the Evil Queen from Snow White with Alec Baldwin as the Magic Mirror, and Queen Latifah as Ursula from The Little Mermaid. Link -via The Daily What
The Enchanted Tiki Room is kind of like It’s A Small World –people either love it or hate it and no matter how you actually feel about it, you’re guaranteed to have the songs stuck in your head after you leave. Personally, I’m one of those people who loves the show–not least of all because it means getting to sit in a nice air conditioned room while eating pineapple soft serve while the temperature outside exceeds 90 degrees.
Image via CarterHawk [Wikipedia]
When Walt originally started work on the Tiki Room, he envisioned it as a restaurant where guests would be entertained by animatronic birds performing for the diners. It was intended to share a kitchen with the Plaza Pavilion and Tahitian Terrace. Interestingly, now none of these locations operates as a restaurant, the Plaza Pavilion is now used as an Annual Passport processing center and the Tahitian Terrace is now Aladdin’s Oasis, which mostly serves as a meet and greet area for those looking to take pictures with Aladdin and Jasmine.
Image via Loren Javier [Flickr]
There are still aspects of the building that give away its original nature. For one, it is the only attraction to include its own restrooms. Another mark of the planned restaurant, the magic fountain in the center of the room was originally planned to be a coffee station –which is why there is a storage compartment build into the base.
Of course, Walt and his crew soon realized the property would be too popular and was too small to seat all of the people who would want to see the show. Rather than scrapping the idea, the design was altered to accommodate rows of benches for guests to sit and watch the show.
The Tiki Room was the first Disney attraction to feature Audio-Animatronics and since it required the use of computers (the operations room is located under the attraction), this also meant that it was the first ride to offer air conditioning –a factor that has continued to add to its popularity during hot Southern California summers.
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What if Disney had produced the movie Up! in 1965? YouTube member whoiseyevan, who gave us Ghost Busters 1954 and Raiders of the Lost Ark 1951 produced a trailer for a 1960s live-action version. See a list of clips sources at the YouTube link. -via reddit
So far, I’ve focused all of the Neatorama Disney Parks articles on Disneyland, mostly because it was the first of all the parks and most of the classic rides originated at the Anaheim park. But, when I decided to write about Space Mountain, I soon learned that it was one of only two classic Disney Parks attractions to debut at Disney World (the other was the Country Bear Jamboree), so to do it justice, it was only right to focus on the Disney World version of the ride.
Image via KWDW [Wikipedia]
The idea for Space Mountain originated from the success of the Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland. The popularity of the ride showed Disney that thrilling rides would do well in his park and he started to work with Arrow Development Company (the same firm that designed the Matterhorn) on a concept for a new Tomorrowland attraction called the Space Port. The concept was similar to the Bobsleds, but it would be inside with special lighting and other effects. Originally, the group wanted to use four separate tracks, but when that proved to be too space consuming, the plans were cut down to two tracks. In 1966, the ride was renamed “Space Mountain.” Unfortunately, Walt’s death that year and the new focus on opening the new Disney World park put the plans for Space Mountain on hold indefinitely.
After a few years, it was obvious that The Magic Kingdom was a major success, but also that their customer base was older than originally expected, comprising of a lot of teens and young adults. To keep up their popularity with this age group, the corporation decided they needed to install more thrill rides. There wasn’t enough space in Fantasyland to add another Matterhorn and the weather of Florida made outdoor rollercoasters somewhat impractical. That’s when designers returned to the idea of Space Mountain. There was enough space in Tomorrowland and the technology improvements in the last few years made many of the outlandish concepts for the ride practical.
Because the ride would be kind of expensive to create, Disney approached RCA to sponsor the new attraction –many rides at the park were sponsored at the time. RCA provided communications hardware and money and, in exchange, their name was plastered all over the ride and the moving sidewalk that took guests out of the attraction was accompanied by a “house of the future” exhibit that prominently featured RCA products. RCA’s sponsorship stopped in 1993 and FedEx took over between 1995 and 2005, but the ride no longer has any sponsors.
When the ride was added to the Anaheim park, it had to fit in a smaller dome, so it was reduced to only hold one track. The other Disney parks also have only one track in their Space Mountains.
Image via William M [Wikipedia]
Space Mountain opened in January 1975 and was the world’s first completely dark indoor rollercoaster. It is now the oldest operating coaster in Florida. It is enclosed in a dome that is 300 feet wide, 183 feet above ground (it also sits 15 feet below the ground, making it a total of 198 feet tall). All together, the dome has a total area of more than 4.5 million feet. The wall is made from 72 massive concrete beams that are each 117 feet long. Because it’s so big, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover passes through it. Fortunately, the PeopleMover features a glass viewing area so guests can look at the ride and see many of the effects used in it.
The Magic Kingdom version of the ride is the only one to offer two tracks and they are almost identical except the Omega track –the one on the right- is ten feet longer so it can cross the tracks to return to its platform.
When the ride is warming up in the morning or after a temporary shutdown, the grease on the track is cold, so the coaster goes slower, up to 25 mph, and the ride lasts longer. Once it’s warmed up, the ride goes up to 32 mph.
Image via WillMcC [Wikipedia]
The ride starts out at the Space Port where guests are loaded into rockets that look similar to the Bobsled carts only there is only one person per seat. Each of the 30 rockets carries six people in a single file line. Guests then travel down a small slope where they enter a circular tunnel featuring shooting lights and repeating sound to signify the building of energy. At the end, it suddenly makes a 180 degree turn and, thanks to the use of mirrors, looks like it will crash into the rocket on the other track. That’s when the real fun starts and guests start seeing the projection of Earth, asteroids, comets and other astral bodies on the ceiling. The ride then goes through a number of twists and turns before it enters a swirling wormhole that brings it to the braking area and pulls back into the station.
Image via WillMcC [Wikipedia]
All of the park’s Space Mountains are different and while many people prefer the original for its place in history, polls of Disney fans that have gone to all the parks have shown that the one in Paris is considered the best. Have you been on more than one Space Mountain? If so, which is your favorite?
Sources: Disney World, Ultimate Orlando, All Ears, Wikipedia
Disneyland fans! See more Neatorama Facts:
Neatorama Facts: Haunted Mansion
Neatorama Facts: Sleeping Beauty Castle
Neatorama Facts: Pirates of the Caribbean
Neatorama Facts: The Jungle Cruise
Neatorama Facts: The Enchanted Tiki Room
Leandro Copperfield put together 500 scenes from eleven Pixar films to make this super mashup. If you’ve seen the movies, you’ll love this! -via The Daily What
This movie mashup fan art just seems right: Buzz Lightyear ready to enter the Grid in the world of Tron, by DeviantART member iamclu. Link -via Breakfast Links
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