HOME |
RSS | 
Yesterday, after 22 years, Universal officially closed down the Jaws ride at Universal Orlando for good. Inside the Magic produced a tribute video to the now-bygone ride. For those who never got to experience the Jaws ride, this may be your best chance to experience the freaky, fast-talking tour guide, the splashing murky water, and Bruce the sometimes-functioning mechanical shark. Link -via Movieline
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.
We have all heard of dream office environments like at Google where workers get free lunch, laundry and massages. But one company has taken things to the next level by decorating their work space to look like something more appropriate at a theme park. I like how despite the office looking like a Disneyland ride, if you notice the men in the photos are wearing dress shirts and ties. They like things casual, but respectable.
With work spaces decorated with swirly lollipops, giant cupcakes, a treehouse, boot houses and even a flowing waterfall concealing a secret office, Inventionland has been designed to get big minds thinking. The bizarre workspace in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is home to Davison, a product-development company whose inventions are sold in Wal-Mart, Target, FAO Schwartz, J.C. Penney and many other major brands.
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
Alton Towers is a popular theme park in Staffordshire, England. The resort recently opened a thrill ride called the Carnival of Screams, featuring “killer clowns” that reach for visitors. However, the new attraction is touching a sore spot with clowns, who are protesting at the park’s gates.
One protestor, Fips the Clown, said: ”We are protesting because we feel the Alton Towers Resort’s new horror maze, Carnival of Screams, is an unfair depiction of clowns.
”It only serves to reinforce stereotypes of clowns as evil.
”I can’t believe this – it has taken us years to get over Stephen King’s ‘IT’ and now this just adds to further damage the reputation of clowns worldwide.
”This will do for clowns what Jaws did for sharks.”
The Carnival of Screams will only be open from October 16 through the 31st. Link -via Arbroath
Kyle Merriman recently visited Nara Dreamland, the abandoned Disneyland knockoff theme park in Nara, Japan that was built in 1961 and closed in 2006. He found it to be fairly intact, except for the fact that there are no people there and the weeds have grown everywhere. See the state of the park in a gallery of 56 photographs. Link
Previously at Neatorama: Nara Dreamland, an Alternate Universe Disneyland
While the reality of a Marvel Superheroes theme park in Dubai is tentative (now projected to open in 2012), Chimera Design has produced a series of illustrations depicting the concepts and general look of the park.
Most of Marvel super-heroes will have their own attractions including the Fantastic Four, Hulk, Iron Man, X-Men, Silver Surfer and of course Spiderman in what will be probably a different ride than the Spiderman ride at Universal Islands of Adventure. Also, according to a a recent post of Brady Mac Donald of the L.A Times “Off-site testing has already begun on three of the planned attractions: “Flying with Spidey”, “Fantasticar” and “X-Men: Danger Room”.
Take a peek at Stark Laboratories, the City of Superheroes, Crater Lake, and other rides depicted.
Link. Image: Chimera Design
120 little people live in a village near Kunming, China. The village was set up to protect the dwarves from discrimination. You can’t live there if you are over 4 feet 3 inches tall.
Now the group has turned itself into a tourist attraction by building mushroom houses and living and dressing like fairy tale characters.
“As small people we are used to being pushed around and exploited by big people. But here there aren’t any big people and everything we do is for us,” said spokesman Fu Tien.
You have to wonder if there are exceptions to the community rules for normal sized children of the current residents when they pass the height limit. Link
For 219 euros (about $280), patrons can spend the day operating 29-ton Liebherr backhoes and 32-ton Komatsu front-end loaders, off-roading through the woods in a Mercedes-built Unimog, peeling out in a Suzuki SUV, and slinging some mud on quad bikes.
The park began as a one-time promotion that became permanent when more and more patrons wanted to have some fun. The biggest customers are women, however, who buy tickets as gifts for men. Link
