The Fourth Doctor is particularly famous for his ridiculously long scarf, which resulted from a miscommunication between costume designer James Acheson and the knitter hired to produce it; Acheson never specified a length, and bought far too much yarn, so the knitter just kept going until it was all used up.

I haven’t yet checked out Settlers of Catan, but it seems like a blast and those that play it certainly enjoy it. That being said, I can’t help but feel like maybe I’ll continue to wait to play the game until March, when the Star Trek version of the game is going to be released. After all, two great things can only be better when combined right? On the downside, it’s only going to be released in Germany.

Catan players, are you interested in trying out the new version?

Link Via Geekosystem

Let’s face it, most holidays already marked on your calendar are pretty boring -Valentine’s Day, Easter, Father’s Day…yawn. If you really want to geek up your wall calendar and ensure you celebrate holidays more appropriate to your specific interests, don’t miss io9′s round up of great science holiday including Pi approximation day (July 22) and Hagfish Day (October 17). Of course, since they’re all science related, certain other geek holidays are left out -after all, you can’t miss out on Towel Day.

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Sometimes you just want to cuddle with Skeletor, Slimer or Admiral Akbar, of course, the problem is that the companies who officially license the merchandise for these characters don’t really believe there’s enough of a market for plush versions. That’s why those seeking such frivolities will need to head over over to the HandmadeStuffs shop over at Etsy. Have fun.

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Back in August, I showed you guys the Angry Birds bra, but for those gals who prefer old school games to those available through smart phones, you might prefer this fun Pac Man bra instead.

Link Via Geeks Are Sexy

The Addis family loves Legos…a lot. As in, this 100,000 brick Santa Dalek isn’t their only massive Christmas creation. Every year they make an equally impressive creation ranging from giant nutcrackers to mail boxes to angels. This year’s Dalek is certainly my personal favorite, but the rest are definitely worth a look.

Link Via BuzzFeed

I would love having one of these in my house except that I couldn’t help but feel like I was counting down the days to my own EXTERMINATion rather than Christmas.

Link Via Craftzine

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The Nicest Place On the Internet is a place where you can cheer up after a hard day. After all, it’s hard not to feel good when random strangers keep giving you a virtual hug.

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It’s been a while since we’ve posted a good Flash game, but Chuck the Sheep is certainly worth a play. You launch the sheep and move him up and down to land on the balloons. Don’t miss a chance to fly with Chuck.

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I don’t know about you guys, but I’m excited as heck for the release of the new Muppet Movie and these cake pops seem like a perfect way to get in the spirit for the new film. If you want to make your own, Bakerella has the instructions.

Link via Laughing Squid

If you’re still hunting for a few fun last minute crafting ideas to spice up your Halloween decor, WebEcoist has a great collection of fun crafts that are all eco-friendly as well. Enjoy.

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Sometimes it’s nice to be able to say a lot in only a few geeky words. If you need a little help getting your message across, try one of these designs by Illustrator Nicole Martinez, as seen over on Mental Floss.

Link Via Mental Floss

Ordinarily, world record attempts at group activities seem boring to me, but the world’s largest lightsaber fight, now that sounds pretty darn fun! The most recent attempt to break the record took place at Washington Square Park, New York City last Saturday. While the record hasn’t been confirmed yet, there were at least 1000 people in attendance, so it sounds like the battle has a good chance of making it into the record books.

Link Via The Mary Sue Image Via Ennuipoet [Flickr]

We’ve seen tons of fun Monopoly boards before, but this Princess Bride one is certainly delightful. Be sure to “do as she wishes” and collect $200.

Link Via Flavorwire

If you love paper dolls, but want a few more contemporary, geeky options, Flavorwire has you covered with a great selection of weird and wonderful paper dolls including Betty White and David Bowie. Print them out, cut them up and then stage your own delightfully odd plays.

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I don’t know about you guys, but just seeing this picture makes me want to visit Singapore’s Changi Airport where fliers can take the easy way to the bottom of the terminal with these delightful slides. If you’re a slide enthusiast or just curious what other weird places could install slides, don’t miss this great Oddee article.

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Link Via Laughing Squid

BuzzFeed often has a lot of fan art creations, but this round up is even better in that they are all paintings of video games. This Sonic painting by DeviantArt user Orioto is simply amazing, as are the rest of his works in his gallery.

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I know school’s about to start (if it hasn’t already), but just in case you want to provide them with a few last educational activities at home, this geode egg project is a good way to get them interested in the science of crystallization.

Link Via Craftzine

Even zombies need some carefree down time! A short film by Travis Betz. -via The Daily What

If you’ve been to Disneyland in the last twenty years, then you’re almost certainly familiar with Splash Mountain. Even if you refuse to ride the massive log ride, you probably at least rode the train through the tunnel that shows the happy ending of the ride. But did you know the ride is based on a movie that has never been released on home video because it’s considered too offensive? Or that the reason there are so many familiar faces inside is because the imagineers salvaged the characters for another attraction? There’s plenty more fun trivia like this inside this edition of our Neatorama Facts series.

Image Via OpenThreads [Flickr]

Trying To Make a Splash

The Zip-a-Dee River Run was originally conceived of as a way to start attracting more people over to the often empty Bear Country area of the park, which was renamed Critter Country after Splash Mountain was opened. Unfortunately, the project quickly ballooned over budget, becoming one of the most expensive projects the Imagineering team had worked on up until that point. To help reduce the cost as much as possible, the team decided to use previously existing animatronic animals from the recently closed America Sings attraction. Even then, the ride still ended up costing $75 million to complete.

Although CEO Michael Eisner kept pushing for the ride to be based on the film Splash, imagineers had long planned to base the ride on the live action/animation film Song of the South and they refused to be moved on that point. In honor of Eisner’s ignored contributions, they did decide to change the name of the ride from the Zip-a-Dee River Run to Splash Mountain.

Strangely, despite the fact that one of the most popular Disney rides was based on Song of the South, the company has still refused to release the title to American home video or DVD because their executives believe the content is offensive to black people. While Uncle Remus is the character believed to be the most offensive and was left out of the ride as well, his presence can be felt in the queue area; a variety of his quotes can be found throughout the barn-themed line area, all the way up to the loading area.

Images Via Express Monorail and PrincessAshley [Flickr]

America Sings Again

Because first Splash Mountain incorporated the characters from America Sings, the Disneyland ride has the most animatronic characters in their version of the ride –a total of 105. While the main characters were specifically created for the new ride, all of the rest were rescued from the closed attraction. All but a handful of the characters from America Sings were used in Splash Mountain; two of the other characters were already hijacked and reskinned for use in Star Tours and one was saved to help teach new imagineers how the technology works.

While the characters may have already been dressed for the occasion, the America Sings animatronics had to be completely reprogrammed and synched with the ride. It took imagineers over 80 hours to rework each figure to fit in their new home. After months of hard work, the characters can now carry out 45 seconds of movement and dialogue before they loop back to the beginning of their programming sequence.

In comparison to the 105 animatronics at Disneyland, the Magic Kingdom only has 68 animatronics and Tokyo Disneyland has about the same number. In case you’re wondering, there is no Splash Mountain at Disneyland Paris because the designers agreed the weather was a bad fit for a water-splashing log ride.

A Simple Story From A Time Long Ago

While the live-action story lines aren’t used in Splash Mountain, many of the Br’er Rabbit tales from the film are. When you get on the ride, you are soon put on a conveyor belt that brings you up the side of the mountain. The main characters can be seen, but mostly you’re just serenaded by unseen voices singing “How Do You Do?” before you drop down the first small dip nicknamed “Slippin’ Falls.” You’re then whisked inside the mountain where you are entrenched in a cartoon version of Georgia circa 1870.

Once inside, you see the source of the singing, the geese, frogs and opossums cheerfully saying hello through song. You also see Br’er Rabbit mocking Br’er Bear just before you go down the next small drop, leading to the Rainbow Caverns filled with more characters, this time singing “Ev’rybody’s Got A Laughing Place.”

In the movie, Br’er Rabbit gets caught in a tar blob that was disguised to look like a little person, but since the “tar baby” was considered to have questionable undertones, the ride shows Br’er Fox catching the sly rabbit in the honey of a bee hive instead. The mood in the ride turns somber and the characters start to sing “Burrow’s Lament” and your log starts climbing up the large hill. You pass between two vultures who taught your impending doom and see Br’er Rabbit about to be eaten by Br’er Fox.

In the movie, Br’er Rabbit convinces the fox to throw him into his home in the brier patch using reverse psychology, so after taking the huge dive down “Doo-Dah Landing,” you’re suddenly immersed in a happy land of critters singing “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah.” You see Br’er Rabbit relaxing at home with his family and Br’er Bear and Br’er Fox fighting off a hungry alligator.

Before arriving at the loading area, you’re shown a preview of the photo that was taken during the plunge as Professor Barnaby Owl describes the looks on the rider’s faces.

Image Via Loren Javier [Flickr]

Differences Between The Parks

Overall, the Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom’s versions of the rides are fairly similar, except that the Disney World logs feature a lap bar, likely added after a rider died after trying to get out while the ride was moving. The Disney World version also has slightly different music, as the Southern style of Disneyland’s Critter Country ride was determined to not be a perfect fit for the Magic Kingdom’s version, which was located in Frontierland. As a result, the music is a bit more country-music styled.

The Tokyo version looks largely the same as the others, but it features the country music soundtrack from Disney World with reworded lyrics and the dialogue is split between English and Japanese. The scenes are also put in a different order. This park has the highest drop of the three parks, letting riders fall 60 feet instead of 52 feet. Interestingly, the Japanese version is also the driest, as this version was specially designed to limit the size of the splash. If you want to stay dry at the other parks, all you can do is try to get on a log with a lot of kids, as the more your log weighs, the more water you’ll get soaked with.

Image Via vmpyr_david [Flickr]

Sweet Southern Sounds

You might not realize it when you’re on the ride, but some serious celebrities gave their voices to the characters.  A few background characters with famous voices include: Br’er Owl by Woody Allen, Br’er Frog by Humphrey Bogart, Br’er Turkey by Keanu Reeves and Br’er Frog by James Avery (aka Uncle Phil from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air). Only one voice from the original movie was used, and that is Nick Stewart who voices Br’er Bear. As for the two main characters, they were both voiced by Jess Harnell, who is better known for his role as Wakko Warner on Animaniacs and as the most recent announcer for America’s Funniest Videos. Many of the other characters and the final song, “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah,” were voiced by imagineers and Disneyland cast members who just happened to be working at the park when the ride was being designed.

The only song that Disney paid people outside the company to work on was “How Do You Do?” This number was recorded especially for the ride by a 29-piece group called The Floozies. The bullfrogs singing this number are all performed by members of this band, with one notable exception. The frog with the deep bass voice was voiced by Thurl Ravenscroft who also voiced Tony the Tiger and was one of the lead singers for a variety of other Disney rides, including The Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion.

Image Via Express Monorail [Flickr]

Switching the “Sp” for a “F”

While I’m sure some of you are already familiar with why the ride is sometimes called “Flash Mountain,” let me go ahead and corrupt you innocent readers who don’t know about this phenomenon. Because the ride has a huge climax that is viewable by visitors not yet on the ride at the same time guest’s photos are snapped, more than a few women (and men) have decided to flash the camera during the log drop. While Disney is usually pretty good about deleting these images before they get out, at one point an employee managed to steal a number of them and upload them on to the internet. It’s almost impossible for anyone to steal these images from the park now, due to heightened security measures, but even so, a lot of women still bare it all on the drop –only to get escorted off the premises shortly after landing.

Image Via Loren Javier [Flickr]

So, do you guys like the ride or is it too tall or too wet for you? Personally, I love the singing and the characters, but after being wet for over seven hours the last time I went on it, I haven’t been too eager to go back. Have any of you had similar experiences?

Sources: Wikipedia #1, #2, #3, Disneyland, Songofthesouth.net, Snopes

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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: Space Mountain
Neatorama Facts: The Enchanted Tiki Room
Neatorama Facts: Christmas at Disneyland
Neatorama Facts: It’s a Small World
Neatorama Facts: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Neatorama Facts: Star Tours

If your kiddos are getting tired of boring old regular playdough colors, then try adding some sparkles to the black dough and they can suddenly play with space playdough. If you want to make your own, Fairy Dust Teaching has a great recipe.

Link Via Craftzine

While I love geeky art, I think my favorite form of these works has always been mashups between two great sources. BuzzFeed has a great collection of such pieces, including this picture of Darth Valice in Wonderland by DeviantArt user Thumper-001.

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My favorite thing about this video is how relaxed the one on the left looks, while the one on the right is so excited to be alive.

Via Laughing Squid

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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To create this world within our world, Rowling had to do a lot of research into an array of mythologies and stories from all over the globe. She once explained, “children know that I didn’t invent unicorns, but I’ve had to explain frequently that I didn’t actually invent hippogriffs.” So what are some of the mythologies incorporated into her stories? Lets take a look, starting with those hippogriffs.

Hippogriffs:

Image via Ben Dodson [Flickr]

Fans of the series are undoubtedly familiar with Buckbeak, the hippogriff that Harry and Hermoine saved from execution, but as Rowling pointed out, many people don’t realize that hippogriffs have been around much longer than the book series. The creatures entered the public consciousness in medieval times, where they were said to be a cross between a griffin and a horse. The cross breed creature was said to be even stronger, faster and more intelligent than either of its parents and could travel as fast as lightening. Fortunately, they were said to be much easier to tame than griffins, which is why Buckbeak was so willing to be ridden in the novels.

Hippogriffs were exceptionally rare beasts, largely because griffins considered horses to be food. In fact, the concept was considered to be so outlandish that “to mate griffins with horses” was a similar expression to “when pigs fly.” For this reason, hippogriffs were considered a symbol not only of impossibility, but of intense love.

Grindylows:

Grindylows were one of the many dark creatures Harry had to face during his competition in the Triwizard Tournament. The nasty little creatures are known to live in the bottom of Hogwarts Lake and try to pull anyone who comes into their territory down to the bottom of the lake.

These creatures originally started being talked about in the English counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire, but their myth spread throughout England and Ireland, where they were used to scare children from pools, marshes and ponds in order to prevent drowning. Stories said that if a child came too close to the edge, the grindylows would grab them and pull them down to the water’s darkest depths.

Basilisks:

Image via Giovanni Dall’Orto [Wikipedia]

The basilisk that almost took down Harry Potter in the Chamber of Secrets was monstrously large, stretching almost 50 feet, and at least 50 years old. Rowling credits the creation of the basilisk to Herpo the Foul, who hatched a chicken egg under a toad.

Classic tales of basilisks vary quite a bit from those of the Harry Potter universe. While both of the creatures can kill with a single glance and are exceptionally poisonous, Rowling’s 50 foot serpent is quite a bit larger than traditional basilisks, which were no more than five feet long (although they seemed to get longer as the stories aged). Notably, the creation of a basilisk in classic stories is through a rooster hatching a toad egg, if a toad hatched a chicken egg, a cockatrice (a similar creature with wings) would be born.

Boggarts:

Rowling’s boggarts are entirely different from the boggarts of mythology. While Harry Potter’s boggarts are quiet terrifying, taking on the form of the victim’s worst fear, folklore tells of boggarts being more troublemaker than fearmonger. English tales of boggarts describe them as stealing things around the house, souring milk, ripping bedsheets from sleeping victims and tugging on people’s ears. It’s hardly the terrifying image of boggarts that require the “riddikulus” spell to conquer.

Dementors:

Image via San Diego Shooter [Flickr]

While Rawling claims to have had no inspiration from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings, it seems unlikely given certain similarities between the two epic tales. The Forbidden Forrest’s giant spider, Aragog, has a very similar personality to the spider of the Ephel Dúath Mountains, Shelob. Lord Sauron and Lord Voldemort also have quite a bit in common, to the extent that many characters of both stories refuse to use their name and are occasionally referred to as “The Dark Lord.” While the horcrux’s themselves are largely different than anything seen in Lord of the Rings, it is notable how the locket used as a horcrux is similar to the One Ring as it makes the wearer behave in a negative fashion.

One the most notable creature similarities is the way the dementors seem so similar to the Nazgul. Both are tall, thin hooded figures with faces that generally cannot be seen. Aside from their terrifying appearances, both of the creatures are said to affect those in contact with them by making them feel cold and scared. Prolonged contact with either creature can even result in unconsciousness filled with abhorrent nightmares.

Horcruxes:

Lord Voldemort has split his soul into seven parts with the use of horcruxes in an attempt to become immortal. Each fraction of his soul is held in a different magical item and the items must all be destroyed before he can die. This concept of immortality via the storage of the soul in an inanimate object is not Rowling’s, but a concept that originated in Slavic mythology in the tale of Koscei the Deathless.

Koscei evades death by trapping his soul in the eye of a magical needle, which is inside of an egg, inside of a duck, inside a hare, inside an iron chest buried under a great oak tree, on the magical island of Buyan. While Koscei does not have seven different horcruxes to protect his soul, the idea is that if the chest is ever opened, the hare will run away. If the hare is killed, the duck will try to fly away. If someone gets their hand on the egg though, they control Koschei and if they break the egg or the needle, he will die.

Liches:

Image via Wikipedia

Similarly, liches are sometimes said to be magicians who use spells to attach their soul to an object. After they die, they will continue to live as corpses until the object is destroyed. In many stories, they also have armies of slaves and servants similar to the Dark Lord. The fact that Voldemort doesn’t look entirely human indicates that he may be a lich.

The Philosopher’s Stone:

The first novel of the series was released as Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. But when the book was set to be released in America, Rowling was asked to change the title and all references to the stone to the “Sorcerer’s Stone” because publishers worried American children wouldn’t want to read a book with the word “Philosopher” in the title. Unfortunately, changing this word didn’t just affect the book title, it also made the novel lose the connection between a legendary part of alchemy and the Harry Potter book.

Many readers don’t realize that the philosopher’s stone and its creator Nicholas Flamel (also mentioned in the book) are not just figments of Rowling’s imagination. The stone is said to be able to turn metals into gold and silver and to help create an elixir of life that could keep someone alive forever. Even Sir Isaac Newton tried to uncover the secret to creating the stone during his lifetime.

Flamel’s actual biography is questionable. He died in the 1400’s, but it wasn’t until the 1600’s that a book was published connecting him to the philosopher’s stone and other alchemy-related quests. He was known to be a manuscript-seller and his posthumous biography claimed this is where he had run across a mysterious 21-page book that he was told was a copy of the original Book of Abraham the Mage. Stories say that he and his wife then worked to translate the book, which taught them how to make the Philosopher’s stone. While some critics doubt that this story, there is little doubt that Flamel has some interest in alchemy, as he designed his own tombstone, which was adorned with alchemical signs and symbols.

While Flamel and his wife both lived into their eighties, many stories claim they are still alive thanks to the stone. In Harry Potter, the couple survived until the 1990s, living over 600 years.

Are you a fan of Harry Potter? Are you going to see the film when it comes out?

Sources: Wikipedia #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11 (And of course, the books themselves)

Creating A Classic

Walt originally envisioned the attraction as an educational adventure where boats would travel by live animals from around the world. He soon realized live animals would be too much of a challenge because they would frequently be sleeping and hiding in the back of enclosures like zoo animals tend to do. Even worse, they’d have to go poo at some point, which would look gross and could be pretty stinky given the small area of space the animals would have to live in.

So instead he opted to use animatronic animals, but he worked to have the creatures look as lifelike as possible and participating in realistic behavior, like the lions eating the zebra. Silly scenes like the rhino attacking the men on the pole and the gorillas ransacking the camp weren’t added until later.

The Imagineers based much of the ride on the movie The African Queen and the vessels used to ferry guests through the attraction are even based on the steamer seen in the film. Another inspiration for the ride was the footage used for the fifties Disney documentary series called True Life Stories.

One of the most difficult challenges of building the attraction was finding plants that looked exotic and getting them to grow. Imagineer Bill Evans chose to use both native and exotic plants in order to save money, but he ensured the local flora still looked in character by performing little landscaping tricks. For example, he grew orange trees in a way where their roots were exposed and then he grew vines on the roots, creating a very junglesque feel to the plants.

The Jungle Cruise was one of the first rides still around that were actually in operation when the park was first opened to the public. In fact, it was one of the first rides built because Walt wanted to give the foliage time to grow before the park opened, even so, it was still pretty sparse on opening day.

Because this specific ride was covered by the press so much during the construction process, it was always a popular attraction and was an E ticket ride.

Tracing Your Voyage

The Jungle Cruise starts out with a simulation of the Irrawaddy and Mekong Rivers, taking visitors through the South East Asian forest. The boat passes a Cambodian temple adorned with crocodiles, giant spiders, king cobras and a Bengal tiger. Next they enter a sacred Indian elephant bathing pool where Indian elephants play in the fountains and spray water at the guests.

The boat then travels through the rivers of Africa, specifically the Nile and passes by two African bull elephants before approaching an African Veldt where giraffes, zebras, wildebeest all watch a group of lions munching on a zebra. A little past this area, there is an angry rhino trying to attack a group of safariers who are hiding up a tree.

Next, the boat is surrounded by angry hippos who are only chased away by a gun shot fired by the skipper. Interestingly, the gun is real; it’s a nickel plated Smith and Wesson .38 Special that has been altered so it can’t shoot live ammo. The skippers carry two types of ammo, the regular blanks used to scare the hippos and extra loud ones in case of emergency. Interestingly, the operators at the Magic Kingdom only carry inoperable prop guns these days, so I wonder what they do when there is an emergency.

Guests then pass under the backside of Schweitzer Falls, named after Doctor Albert Schweitzer, and then enter the South America and traverse the Amazon River. Drums and chanting signal that the boat is now in headhunter country. Soon enough the headhunters are wielding spears at the visitors, who are suddenly attacked by piranhas in the water. Just before the boat returns to the dock, it passes Trader Sam, the shrunken head dealer, who offers visitors a two for one special –two of his heads for one of theirs.

Sillying Things Up

When the ride first opened, it was supposed to be serious, but within a few years, Walt realized that it would be greatly improved with a little humor to liven it up. So he decided to have animator Marc David write a script that incorporated some humorous gags. The funny bits started to be incorporated into the action in 1962.

These days, the skippers are always hired with their sense of comedic timing in mind. In fact, there has been a long-running comedy show in Fullerton, California since 2006 that features only Jungle Cruise skippers.

Evolution

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Disney believed in constantly updating rides to ensure they were always interesting for guests. While most people don’t notice the changes, the attraction has gone through quite a few stages to be at its current state. If you have visited the park in the last few decades, you may notice a few differences from the modern version and the one seen in the video.

The first change happened in 1962, when the elephant bathing pool was added. Two years later the safari camp was installed.

When the Indiana Jones Adventure was built in 1994, the Jungle Cruise queue area was redesigned and the river was slightly rerouted. The new attraction fit in well with the setting, but the throngs of tourists that could be seen from the ride itself were a little distracting. Fortunately, the skipper script was adapted to make fun of the tourists.

Another refurbishment took place in 2004, when the piranhas were added along with an explosion effect where the gorillas have taken over the camp.

Even the boats on the ride were changed, as they were originally clean and beautiful replicas of the African Queen, but the 1994 refurbishments allowed the imagineers to give the boats a grungy look so they better fit in with their surroundings and the Indiana Jones Adventure next door.

Differences Between The Parks

Like most classic Disneyland rides, the attraction is also featured at other Disney parks, but each has their own tiny variations. Disneyland Paris is actually the only one to not feature the ride. This is because Imagineers worried about trying to find appropriate jungle plants that could handle the cold temperature of the area and because other theme parks in France have already adapted the ride, so it would not be a unique experience to European visitors.

At the Magic Kingdom, the biggest differences are the order of the scenes and the inclusion of a downed airplane near the hippo pool. This is the back half of a Lockheed Model 12 Electrica Junior that was purchased for the Casablanca scene in the Great Movie Ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The other scene only required the front half of the plane, so the back half was added in the jungle setting.

Other than the plane, the Tokyo version of the ride is pretty much identical to the Magic Kingdom version, except the narration is in Japanese and the ride runs clockwise instead of counterclockwise.

The biggest changes can be seen at Hong Kong Disneyland though. At this park, the river goes around Tarzan’s Treehouse and the ending has been completely redone to include a grand finale with a battle between the gods of fire and water. This park has handled language problems by having three separate lines, one of English, one for Cantonese and one for Mandarin.

Steering The Streams

The skippers on the boat do control the speed and direction you are going, but the underwater railing prevents them from having to steer. They generally use the steering wheel prop throughout the journey, but only for fun.  On the other hand, this does mean they can put you in the line of fire for the elephant sprays by adjusting their speed appropriately –as my sister learned the hard way when she was throwing a tantrum on the ride when we were kids.

If you’ve ever wondered what would happen in case of a breakdown, you can relax even if you are a bad swimmer. While the canal reaches depths of up to eight feet, it is is no more than three feet deep in most areas. The water is died brown to help prevent guests from being able to see the “river” bottom.

Do you guys like the ride? What’s your favorite terrible Jungle Cruise pun, or do you prefer to leave the jokes to professionals and avoid the ride?

Sources: Themed Attraction, Wikipedia, Disney Reporter, Jim Hill Media, Disneyland, Mouse Planet, Little Known Facts About Well-Known Places: Disneyland

Disneyland fans! See more Neatorama Facts:

Neatorama Facts: Haunted Mansion

Neatorama Facts: Sleeping Beauty Castle

Neatorama Facts: Pirates of the Caribbean

Neatorama Facts: Space Mountain

Neatorama Facts: The Enchanted Tiki Room

Best Costume Based Around A Wheelchair: Darth Vader Tie Fighter

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Best Geeky Pregnancy Costume: Darth Vader With Death Star

The Darth Vader with his Death Star costume might not be the most elaborate Star Wars costume, but it makes up for lack of complexity with comfort and the use of the baby bump to fill in the Death Star is just brilliant.

Best Utterly Insane Star Wars Costume: Luke Skywalker on A Tauntaun

We’ve all seen our share of hokey, horse-riding costumes, but using expansion foam to construct an incredibly realistic looking tauntaun with Luke Skywalker on top is a whole different story.

Best Transformers Costume: Transforming Transformer

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There are tons of Transformers costumes out there and while most of them are pretty cool, few of them look so convincing when transformed into a car.

Best Pet Costume Made From Trash: Cardboard U.S.S. Enterprise

Yes, this Star Trek dog costume is geeky, and yes the dog does look cute in a sad way. But no, this costume isn’t a good idea. And no, he won’t like having cardboard and beer cans taped to his back.

Best Comic Book Villain Costume: Doctor Octopus

Sure you could be Kingpin, Two-Face or Mystique, but none of those characters have awesome arms growing out of their back like Doctor Octopus. It’s a way cooler look to carry around your enemy on your back.

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Sure he might need to change his name to Copper Man in this Jules Verne-inspired take on the classic Marvel hero, but it doesn’t make the character any less cool.

Best Adult Videogame Costume: Big Daddy From Bioshock

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This Big Daddy costume is amazing in that it not only looks exactly like the characters in the videogame, but the left arm drill actually spins thanks to the help of a hidden electric drill inside the costume.

Best Child Videogame Costume: Mega Man

It takes one dedicated dad to put something like this together for his three year old, but if you have the dedication and technical proficiency, you can follow The Aging Gamer’s instructions on how to put together a Mega Man costume for your little one.

Best Console Costume: Working Gameboy

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This Gameboy costume has a working monitor on it displaying Tetris, even better, the game can be controlled with the buttons on the costume.

Best New School Cat Meme Costume: Spaghetti Cat

The best thing about this weird meme costume is that the original cat in the video looked so fake and awkward, just like this woman.

Best Website Costumes: Google Tube and YouTube

I think the best thing about these two costumes is the intricate background details behind the “actors,” which really gives a 3D feeling to the video area of the page.

Best Nature Costume: Webbegong Shark

Most kids who dress as animals choose dog or cat costumes, but this webbegong shark costume is not only unique, but incredibly accurate as well. The little two year-old was obsessed with the sharks and his seamstress mother was more than happy to indulge in his interests.

What was your favorite costume ever? Do you know what you’ll be this year?

Drinks

Every party has to have drinks and here are a few perfect brews for O Hallows’ Eve, including one virgin punch that is perfect for kid’s parties.

Perhaps the most beautiful Halloween cocktail is this Morphing Martini that changes colors from blue to fuchsia and has an impressive layer of fog over the top thanks to the addition of dry ice.

Alcoholic brain Jell-O is one of my own concoctions that involved the wonderful brain mold from the Neatorama shop. It’s delightfully sweet, looks creepy and the addition of Knox made it sturdy enough that guests were able to take slices from the brain a mess on their hands. If you replace the alcohol with water, this could also be a great kid-friendly dessert.

Swamp Juice is a fun, kid-friendly cocktail made with gummies, tapioca pearls, seltzer water, lemonade and some food coloring. Aside from the spooky look, the strange texture is sure to be a hit with kids too.

Appetizers

If you’re throwing a full dinner party, many of these can be repurposed as side dishes to round out your main course, but these snack-sized treats are also perfect creepy canapés.

While the potential messiness of roast tentacle au jus makes it a little intimidating for a party setting, the pure awesomeness of an alien tentacle complete with bones makes it worth buying a few party plates and forks.

For the more sophisticated monsters, these marinated mozzarella eyeballs with olive irises are both creepy looking and delicious.

These devilish eyes were actually just featured on Neatorama, but they do look awesome and would make an excellent party dish, so I couldn’t leave them out from this article.

Eyes are a particularly popular body part for these treats because they can be made from so many things. These edible zombie eyeballs are one of my favorites on the list because the sweet fruits paired with yogurt are delicious as well as gross looking.

This one may not be as spooky as the rest, but this cute spider cheese ball is a good way to sneak a traditional party favorite in. Plus, its adorability makes it perfect for kid’s parties.

Entrees

Now that you’ve selected your appetizers and sides, it’s time for the main course. These three dishes are great because they offer quite a bit of variety and each looks gross in its own, special way.

This recipe for roasted fleshworm offers instructions for making the creature in two ways, with either bacon of prosciutto. The best thing about fleshworms is the impressive level of detail you can put in them, including spiky teeth and spilling guts.

If you’re throwing a kid’s party, fleshworms might be a little too spooky, but these rats in blood provide the perfect balance of ickyness with cuteness. Best of all, most little monsters will love the basic spaghetti and meatballs recipe it takes to give birth to such creatures.

For something a little more party-friendly, but still filling, the Kentucky Fried WTF on a stick is an easy-to-eat main course that is both creepy and funny.

Desserts

If you’re like me, then dessert is probably your favorite part of any dinner party and Halloween-themes provide you ample opportunity to reward your twisted sweet tooth.

These Dexter-inspired blood slide suckers are a good treat for any party and certainly look awesome. Kids are sure to love them too, but hopefully they won’t have actually seen Dexter to get the reference.

These Frankenstien finger cookies are another great treat for non-dinner parties and for kids. The coconut cookies with almond fingernails are probably pretty delicious too.

This thorax cake is a marvel of disgusting dessert engineering. While it looks cool and is probably pretty tasty as it five flavors of cake with six different sauces, it requires a pretty advanced knowledge of baking, so if you have any reservations about trying to make it, you probably shouldn’t.

For something a little more simple that is still suitable for a sit-down dinner party, this gelatin heart is sure to impress as you cut into the juicy artery and blood starts spilling out. If presentation is everything than this dessert is certain to be the highlight of the evening.

If you are interested in reading more Halloween food ideas, be sure to check out these Mental Floss articles by Miss Cellania.

Last week, my boyfriend and I went to the San Diego County Fair, previously known as the Del Mar Fair. We came with hopes of gorging ourselves on fried food and petting the myriads of livestock that are there to be judged. We left with sore bellies, hands that were surprisingly (and disappointingly) clean of animal germs and a full photo story of our day at the fair.

This year’s theme, “Taste The Fun,” left me eager to visit. After all, the best part of these events is a chance to try all the fried goods your belly can handle. Even better, because we went on a Tuesday, most vendors were offering a “Taste of the Fair” deal where one select item would only be $2.

I was eager to see what $2 deals most of the booths offered, but as we discovered, most of the deals were pretty bogus. You could buy half of a cinnamon roll that would ordinarily cost $4 for $2. Or you could get cotton candy, which was normally $2.50.

I have to admit, Mr. Tomato here had me disappointed by the time we walked halfway up the main drag.

Some of the places were even worse, offering $2 “tastes” that were literally a single bite of one of their dishes. I guess they thought it was a fair buy when they were already charging $14 for a basket of fried clams.

Regardless of the price though, the food is still one of the main attractions and these places were raking in the dough, particularly those places that offer more non-traditional fare, such as fried Snickers, Twinkies, etc. This place had a massive line all day. I think the light-up sign helped.

Surprisingly, the Heart Attack Cafe wasn’t that busy, but I suppose that was more due to its bad location than its lack of trendy foods. After all, it was the only place in the fairgrounds serving both deep fried butter and chocolate-covered bacon. The place sounded like a Neatorama post.

This was one of the two booths I finally chose to eat from. I’ve been dying to try deep-fried avacados for years and they were the only place selling them. While I was there, I also took a chance on the deep-fried s’mores. I do not regret telling you that I declined to try the Krispy Kreme custard donut chicken sandwich, which seems beyond revolting to me, despite its journalistic appeal. Have any of you tried it?

These are the fried avocados that were served with pesto sauce, lemon and ranch dressing. They were really good with lemon and pesto and the flavors melded together really well. The ranch was a little too creamy for the avocados, which are already so rich and creamy on their own.

This was the fried s’more. The first bite or two was great, but it reminded me of the fried Snickers I tried once…a few bites in and you’re pretty much over it.

Of all the $2 “Taste of the Fair” treats, this was the only one that actually seemed worth it. This is a hash dog, a hot dog surrounded by hash browns and then deep fried. The flavor was good, but it was just too greasy as you might imagine. Still, it was a good deal, it is normally $4 for this thing and at least it’s remotely filling as opposed to a “taste” of fish.

Moving on from food that you actually eat, there was an amazing sculpture of a couple with a stroller made completely from butter inside the main livestock area. Because it’s always incredibly hot here, the sculpture had to be contained in an air conditioned chamber. There were two people inside working on it while we were there and I have to say, they were amazing. They worked in tons of details into the sculptures. The guy’s shirt even had palm trees carved into it.

One of my favorite parts of the fair are the livestock barns, but I have to say, this year was actually a bit disappointing. They had one huge mud area with a few cows, some pigs and some goats, but you couldn’t even get close to them.

In the other livestock areas, they had most of the cows roped off.

My favorite animals are the goats, and the only way you could get to them was to go through the madness that is the petting corral. They didn’t even have any goats entered into livestock competitions this year.

Actually, there was one species of goats in the livestock corrals. These are angora goats. Unfortunately, they just aren’t as friendly as regular or pygmy goats.

On the other hand, there were plenty of sheep, about three barns full. And as a result, there was tons of shearing as well.

A lot of the sheep wear these robes, but I have no idea what the point is, do any of you readers know what they are for?

Not all of the fair animals are livestock though. This little piggy is the star swimmer of the Swifty Swine Racing Pigs show. She loves jumping in  couldn’t wait for the guy to do his build up, so she just went for it.

These are the racing pigs from the show and they have become quite a crowd favorite. In fact, their hourly shows seem to always have full seats.

There’s also an adorable Doggies of The Wild West Show. While we missed it this year, we did catch a magician doing tricks in front of the cutest stage around.

The fairgrounds are also home to one of San Diego’s biggest haunted houses in October. This was their promotion to remind people to come back later in the year. While the booth looked pretty cool, it seemed very out of place amongst the rest of the happy fair attractions.

The plant and garden area is another big attraction of the fair. Clipped flowers sit inside while whole gardens wait outdoors.

This guy seemed to be the mascot for the garden section, which had a fruit and veggie theme to go along with the fair’s overall “Taste the Fun” theme.

While there were plenty of veggies and fruits planted in the gardens, I noticed not too many of them won these “noteworthy plant” awards. I guess zucchini, beans and tomatoes just aren’t that impressive.

Bromeliads sure are impressive though and they were scattered about the gardens.

Another cool attraction at the fair are all the handmade items. We had a friend who entered something in the woodworking show and we went to have a look. Along the way we found some really cool things like this gun and holster made from just wood and metal.

And this incredible lion that was almost life-size.

This is the piece our friend entered. It’s not as artistic as a fully wooden lion, but it’s certainly more functional.

This was in the next door gem show. I had no idea tortoise shells and shark’s teeth counted as jewels, but they sure make nice jewelery.

Then of course, there are the rides. This was probably the most popular ride this year and the line was out of control.

The farris wheel was massively large. Too bad it costs something like $5 for one ride.

I avoided the rides this year, but I did ride on this one once and if you see it somewhere and are tempted to try it, don’t. They hold you at the top of the loop upside down and then hold you there so all the blood rushes to your head…that’s why they call it Evolution. Instead of fun dizziness upon exiting you instead get a terrible headache as the blood returns to the rest of your body.

It’s been forever since I saw a place that offered elephant rides, but these guys are great because they operate an elephant breeding program to help endangered Asian elephants. The animals all looked really happy, and you could look for areas around their necks to see they weren’t abused like many trained elephants.

Then of course they had all the carnival games filled with hucksters calling you to try your luck to win lovely knock-off toys. For some reason bananas seemed to be a popular stuffed animal this year.

If you’re wondering why a person who doesn’t go on the rides still bothers to walk through the ride section, this is why.

I love the artwork on these rides.

Even the not-so-good, copyright-infringing artwork is fun to look at.

I was a little sad to see that they finally painted over the totally dated pictures of Tom Selleck on the Magnum ride. I guess they felt like they needed to modernize it…of course, no one felt like they should modernize the dancing Coke can.

For some reason, the fun houses always have the coolest artwork.

The kid’s area rides also have really detailed paintings on them.

And there is nothing quite like having a smiling spider wave you goodbye as you head out of the park grounds.

Here’s your turn Neatonauts, do you have a local fair? Is it any good? Is it too commercial? What are your favorite attractions? This isn’t just to stimulate conversation, it’s also to help us find a better fair that’s more classic and way less expensive, so let’s hear it.

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Why Strain When You Can Relax Under the Sun?

The Cycle Sol prototype may look a little strange, but its solar-charged battery makes it an inspiring piece of machinery. Soaking up the sun help to charge the battery, which can help push the bike to speeds up to 15 MPH. Its greatest attribute though may be the convenient push you’ll feel when tackling tedious hills. Also a plus, if it is left in the garage or used on a cloudy day, you can still plug it into an outlet to get the full battery charge you need to get moving.

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The Bike That Is Actually A Computer

Talk about a bike of the future. This stream-lined prototype incorporates an on-board computer that can help count the calories you burn, play music and serve as an unbreakable lock. It was designed by Gold Medalist Chris Boardman, who believes his creation could be an everyday product within the next twenty years. Similar to the Cycle Sol, this bike will also have a solar-powered battery to help you out when you’re tired of pedaling.

If you’re wondering how a bike computer could incorporate an unbreakable lock, it’s all through the magic of fingerprint identification. Of course, if the bikes are considered valuable enough, then you may run the risk of losing your digit all together when some really motivated thieves approach you –a fate that has already befallen one iPad user.

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Is the Shweeb the Next Schwinn?

One of the biggest drawbacks to cycling is the danger inherent with sharing the road with vehicles. The Shweeb individual monorail system eliminates this problem and gives you the safety and serenity only possible in your own personal bubble. The company working to make these mini-monorail systems a part of your daily commute claims they are “a personal, efficient, and cost-effective transport solution with applications for urban commuting, recreational and fitness markets.”

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Dissecting the Attraction of the Di-Cycle

If the classic bicycle design of two wheels in line with your body is just too outdated for you, then perhaps the Di-Cycle’s two side wheels are more your style. Perhaps the coolest advantage of the Di-Cycle though is its ability to operate on both land and water.

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Speed And Safety: Together At Last

The Hyperbike may not ride on water like the Dicycle does, but its massive side wheels are instead designed to help protect you in the event of an accident. Also nice, its design, which includes both feet and hand pedals allows you to travel at speeds up to 50 MPH.

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Why Snowboard When You Can Bike Sideways?

On the other hand, if you’d prefer to sit on your bike sideways while it moves to the front, then perhaps the Sideways Bike is more to your liking. Inspired by snowboarding, this one allows you to sit and pedal while facing sideways and then to look to your left or right while steering. I’d be terrified to ride this next to the road, but maybe that’s just me.

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The World’s Cheapest Bike

If money is your main concern, then this handy $30 bicycle might be more in your price range. It’s cool, it’s collapsible, it’s recyclable, and not to worry, it is water proof. The inventor claims that one of the biggest advantages though is the fact that it will probably not get stolen. On the downside, it doesn’t go very fast and if you bike regularly, you’ll need to replace it every six months or so.

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The Nothing Bike

When you’re looking for something a little more flashy, but just as bare-boned as a cardboard bike, the Nulla minimalist bike is a great choice. It’s spokeless, stylish and light, as it is stripped of all non-essential components. The name Nulla even translates to “nothing” in Italian, which means it’s also a perfect ride for any existentialists out there.

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The Relaxed Minimalist Design

Minimalists who prefer recumbent cycles are likely to find this spokeless cycle, created by designer Mathew Zurlinden, to offer many of the same advantages as the Nulla, only with the critical difference in the rider’s body position.

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Row Row Row Your Bike

If you were on your college rowing team or if you are simply much more muscular on the top half of your body, then why not row your bike home? Unlike a regular bicycle, even a standard hand-operated bike, this one is not powered by rotating pedals, but instead through pushing and pulling the handle bars. Using it can burn up to 850 calories per hour and it’s supposedly easier on your joints than a standard bike.

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Now it’s your turn readers. I’m sure many of you have seen some cool and crazy bikes in your time. Feel free to share them in the comments. Also, which of these designs would you prefer?

I bet you didn’t know that Lando Calrissian had a Rodian half-brother named Guido Calrissian.  Well, he didn’t, but that’s what I’m naming my custom character from the time-killing site where you can also make one.

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Knitters around the net rejoice, Threadless is holding a new contest until January 18, 2010. Whoever makes the coolest knitted version of one of their shirts wins, so get your needles clicking.

Link Via Craftzine

YouTube Link

From The Fun Theory, a project by Volkswagen and the ones who brought us the piano staircase, comes bottle bank arcade.  Again the question is posed, “If we make it fun, will people start doing it?”  Yes, they will.

Thanks, Luna!

More fun with movie posters and Photoshop can be had at The Chive.  Inspired by a Worth 1000 contest, users re-imagine popular movies if one letter in their title was changed, or removed.  Here, The Chive lays claim to The Ark Knight and No Country For Old Hen.

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Love iced cream cones but hate the iced cream? Then you’ll love these Cupcake cones on Instructables with plenty of instructions (naturally) to make your own sweettreats at home.

Delicious, clever, and surprising, these cupcakes impersonating ice cream cones are sure to delight!

Now that’s a quote that I can’t begin to dispute.

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Early March saw the annual spring Festival of Color, or Holi, in the Hindu world.  If you are a clean freak, then Holi may not be for you.  As part of the festival it is people’s religious duty to splatter, smatter and smother as many others as possible with colored paint and water.  As religious festivals go, this is one of the messier.

If you live in a large, multi-ethnic city virtually anywhere in the world it is a possibility that in the last week you have seen groups of people in parks merrily spattering each other with paint. While you might be excused for thinking that it is a new form of corporate team building – and what a great one that would be – you would be wrong. The throwing of multi-colored water and powder is in fact the popular Hindu spring Festival of Colors, also known as Holi.

Link – via webphemera

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by taliesyn30.

Post-it notes arn’t just for jotting down random notes.  This ever growing collective of artists have been drawing on post-it notes in their spare time at work and posting to this blog on a regular basis.

“this blog was originally dedicated to documenting the post-its i doodled while at work. however, this blog has grown beyond it’s original intent to encompass the post-its drawn by me and and any post-it compatriots who deem to grace it’s halls with their own artfull pictographs.”

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From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by lanbridge.

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The Triple Crown never seemed so two-sided. 

There are those who go to the races to see and be seen.  The rich and famous, and the classy entourage they bring with them. 

And then, there’s this crowd…sound is mildly NSFW.

Sure, it may not be the smartest behavior, but doesn’t this  spontaneous-looking game say something about culture?

Ever wondered what it would be like to travel in a jet-powered porta-potty? Me neither. Seeing someone else doing it still is interesting though. It’s every ten year old boy’s dream come true -a whole collection of jet and rocket powered vehicles, including fire trucks, recliners, tractors and more. Plenty of speed record holders here kiddos, so click the link and have fun exploring the speedy side of life.

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Boston.com has a very cool chart detailing how to mess with your mind’s perceptions, naturally. I think the most interesting one is definitely the first one. It tells you how to hallucinate with ping pong balls and a radio. If you’ll excuse me, I need to go cut some ping pong balls in half and listen to static for the next hour or so.

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It starts easy, but it gets challenging! And when you finish that one, there’s FactoryBalls 2, which I think is even more inventive. Grass seed, anyone? Have fun!

FactoryBalls 1 and FactoryBalls 2 via Jayisgames

Maybe it’s just a childhood fascination, but I adore hedge mazes. After fun Halloween corn mazes and the movie Labyrinth, who wouldn’t? WebEcoist has a great collection of mazes for your viewing enjoyment. Enjoy!

It was just another hot and slow day on a the construction site when someone had a brilliant idea. Although it looks like fun, you have to trust the operator to enjoy this ride.

Link: YouTube

“Zwing” your ball around using the mouse, smashing all the black balls of screen. The aim is to protect the white ball in the centre at all times. If the white ball leaves the boundary, the game’s over. Every 10 levels, you’ll face a boss that you have to continually hit until he runs out of health and goes off screen.

As you hit each ball out of the screen, you gain experience points (xp). The harder you hit the ball, the more xp you collect.

Source: Kabomb

Here’s a really neat trick to impress your friends. I practiced it for about 10 minutes and I get the hang of it rather quickly. Give it a try… Link