Magic Kingdom

Saturday, April 08, 2006

MAGIC KINGDOM

The Magic Kingdom is a theme park covering 107 acres (433,000 m²) at Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company, through its Walt Disney Parks and Resorts unit. Opened on October 1, 1971, it is the most famous of the Florida theme parks and is credited with beginning the Floridian tourism boom. Its layout and attractions are generally similar to those of Disneyland in California, and the park was designed and built by WED Enterprises.

Main Street, U.S.A. is the first "themed land" inside the entrance of the many Magic Kingdom-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the world. Based on Walt Disney's hometown of Marceline, Missouri, Main Street, U.S.A. is designed to resemble the center of a turn-of-the-century (early 1900s) American town. At Tokyo Disneyland, this area is named World Bazaar.

Walt Disney said, "For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates, Main Street will bring back happy memories. For younger visitors, it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of grandfather's youth." Above the firehouse at Disneyland is Walt Disney's personal apartment, fully furnished but off-limits to the public. A lamp is kept burning in the front window as a tribute to his memory.

Each Main Street, U.S.A. features tracks for a horse-drawn trolley which runs along its length, except at Tokyo Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland. The shops are laid out in a fashion to take advantage of the fact that people tend to walk on the right side of the street: along the right of the street (as a guest enters the park) are shops selling cameras and film, hats, and other items more likely to be purchased by someone starting his day at the park; along the other side of the street are shops selling toys and souvenirs and other items more likely to be purchased before departing. Main Street, U.S.A. is also home to City Hall, in which the Guest Relations office is located.

The buildings along Main Street, U.S.A. use forced perspective to appear taller than they really are. The false second stories of all the buildings are slightly smaller than the first stories, a few feet short of full size, and the third stories are even smaller than the second. If the original Disneyland architects had made the buildings a full two stories high, they would have looked incongruously tall compared to the castle in view at the end of the street.

The names painted in the windows on Main Street serve as credits for some of the many people, Imagineers and others, who contributed in some way to the creation of Disneyland. Largely they appear as fictional businesses (gyms, realtors, dentists and the like), and they often refer to a hobby or interest that the person in question had. Ub Iwerks's window, for example, refers to his prowess with cameras. For Disneyland's 50th anniversary, on July 17, 2005, a first-story window on each Main Street was unveiled with a dedication to all the cast members (employees) who had worked for Disney throughout the years.

ADVENTURELAND- DISNEY WORLD

Adventureland is one of the "themed lands" at the many Magic Kingdom-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the world. It is themed to resemble the remote jungles in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, South America and the South Pacific. "To create a land that would make this dream reality," said Walt Disney, "we pictured ourselves far from civilization, in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa."

The Adventureland here is divided into two main sub-areas, one being the Arabian Village and the other one being Caribbean Plaza, which is home to Pirates of the Caribbean. Other attractions that distinguish it from the others are the Magic Carpets of Aladdin spinner ride and the Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management), which now features Iago (from Disney's Aladdin) and Zazu (from The Lion King) as additional hosts.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN

Pirates of the Caribbean is one of the best-known attractions at Disneyland, the Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris theme parks.

Its setting is loosely based on the more romantic side of piracy in the Caribbean. The first ride opened at Disneyland on March 18, 1967, was the largest audio-animatronic project to date and was the last attraction which Walt Disney was involved in designing. During the course of the indoor boat ride, guests experience an immersive, larger-than-life pirate experience – complete with gunshots, cannon blasts, explosions and fire. Since the Disneyland attraction was constructed before the advent of life-like research skeletons, the original skeletons that made up parts of the show were genuine medical specimens; most still remain today. It is widely rumored that the skull and crossbones mounted on the headboard of the bed featured in the "Captain's Quarters" are genuine as well, given to Walt Disney as a gift.

Another interesting feature may be seen above the bar in that same scene: the portrait of the lady pirate is an original work by Marc Davis. In addition, the pirate captain in the scene where captured women are auctioned as brides is also a test bed for updates and developments to audio-animatronic technology; many innovations are tried on him first. As a result, his movements are far more lifelike and expressive than virtually any other audio-animatronic in all of Disneyland.

The ride was never intended to be part of Magic Kingdom out of fear that it would not be exotic enough to Floridians, due to its geographic proximity to the Caribbean. Instead, planners intended Magic Kingdom to have a Pirates-type ride called the Western River Expedition, which would featured cowboys and Indians instead. However, guest demand forced the Florida resort to build the ride, although it is shorter than its counterpart in Disneyland. The ride opened in Florida on December 15, 1973, more than two years after the Florida resort opened. It is an original to both Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris, having both opened with their parks' opening days of April 15, 1983 and April 12, 1992, respectively. There is no ride yet at Hong Kong Disneyland, but there are plans to add this ride to that park in the near future, but with some Splash Mountain-style elments.

THE ENCHANTED TIKI ROOM- UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT

The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management), a modified version of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland, is an attraction located in The Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management)—note: without the Walt Disney tag before the name—opened in the Magic Kingdom park on October 1, 1971, as Walt Disney's Tropical Serenade. The show was an exact duplicate of the Disneyland attraction, but instead of the pre-show there was a waterfall in place of the Tiki gods, which would open and two Audio-Animatronic birds would entertain guests. The show was sponsored by Florida Citrus Growers, until it closed on September 1, 1997, for renovation and updating.

The show re-opened to much controversy as The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management), featuring Iago and Zazu from Aladdin and The Lion King, respectively, as new hosts of the Enchanted Tiki Room nightclub. The show featured all the Audio-Animatronic birds, but now included Iago and Zazu, plus a new Hawaiian goddess who disrupts the usual Enchanted Tiki Room storyline after Iago upsets her.

THE JUNGLE CRUISE

The Jungle Cruise is an attraction at the Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland (under the name Jungle River Cruise) theme parks around the world. It was one of the twenty two attractions that opened with Disneyland on July 17, 1955 and one of the boats on the cruise was painted gold for the fiftieth celebration in 2005.

It is a humourous boat ride, hosted by a 'skipper' who takes guests on a journey through the jungles of Asia, Africa and South America. The skipper's memorised spiel is legendary among Disney fans, and many fans hold competitions in which they compete to say the seven-minute spiel the fastest. However, individual skippers now often vary their recitations so greatly with seemingly ad-libbed comments that each ride on the Jungle Cruise can be a substantially different experience.

The only Magic Kingdom-style Disney theme park that doesn't have the Jungle Cruise in its attraction roster is Disneyland Paris, for the reason that it was thought European audiences did not think of a boat ride as unique.

The Jungle Cruises around the world vary in different ways. In 2005, Disneyland's version got a new piranha attack scene as well as some explosion effects in a scene where gorillas are wrecking a camp and throwing dynamite into the river. Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland's version have a different Trader Sam animatronic figure as well as an indoor temple scene. Hong Kong Disneyland has a different shaped route compared to the others, acting almost like their version of the Rivers of America found in the Frontierland area of the other parks as well as some scenes involving angry Tiki gods.

The Walt Disney Company announced in 2004 that the Jungle Cruise would be adapted into a motion picture, also called Jungle Cruise. This would follow the footsteps of fellow Disney attractions: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, and Country Bear Jamboree that had been adapted for the big screen.

Frontierland is one of the "themed lands" at the many Magic Kingdom-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the world. At Tokyo Disneyland.

Frontierland at the Magic Kingdom is very similar to the one at Disneyland. It borders Adventureland, Liberty Square, and Rivers of America (upon which the Liberty Belle sails).

Splash Mountain is an attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, that opened on July 17, 1989; at the Magic Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, that opened on July 17, 1992; and at Tokyo Disneyland in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan that opened on October 1, 1992.

The attraction is based on the Disney film Song of the South. Each Splash Mountain features a 52-and-a-half foot drop at a 45 degree angle into the Briar Patch. Splash Mountain was inspired, and includes songs from Song of the South such as Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah.

BIG THUNDER MOUNTAIN RAILROAD

Disney World's Big Thunder Mountain's design is based on the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. All the other parks' versions are based on the rising buttes that are located in Utah/Arizona's Monument Valley.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was designed by Imagineer Tony Baxter. The concept comes from Baxter's work on the runaway mine train segment of Marc Davis' Western River Expedition showroom, Thunder Mesa.

THE COUNTRY BEAR JAMBOREE

The Country Bear Jamboree is a former attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California and a current attraction in the Magic Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida and at the Tokyo Disneyland theme park at Tokyo Disney Resort in Chiba, Japan. All versions of the attraction are similar.

The attraction is a stage show, with audio-animatronic figures. Most of the on-stage characters are bears, who perform Country music. Characters rise up to the stage on platforms, descend from the ceiling, and appear from behind curtains. The audience includes audio-animatronic animal heads mounted on the walls who interact with the characters on stage.

Due to overwhelming popularity, The Country Bear Jamboree was given two "spin-off" shows which appeared during the summer and winter seasons at Disneyland. They were called The Country Bear Christmas Special in 1984 and The Country Bear Vacation Hoedown in 1986.
The Country Bear Jamboree was originally intended by Walt to be placed in a ski resort he was trying to build in the mid 1960s. Walt knew he wanted some sort of show to provide entertainment to the guests at the resort, and he knew he wanted the show to feature some sort of bear band. He assigned the project to imagineer Marc Davis.

Davis, together with Al Bertino came up with many bear groups, including bear marching bands, bear mariachi bands, and Dixieland bears. Walt enjoyed them all, but unfortunately he passed away before he could make any real decisions regarding the show.

After Walt's death, plans for the show still carried on. The bears would be featured in the resort's Bear Band Restaurant Show, and it was decided that they would have a country twang. But while plans for the show progressed, plans for the ski resort did not. Instead, the imagineers working on the project decided to place the show in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in time for its grand opening in 1971. Imagineer X Atencio and musical director George Bruns created songs for the bears to sing. On October 1, 1971, The Country Bear Jamboree opened its doors in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.

Fantasyland is one of the "themed lands" at the many Magic Kingdom-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the world. Each Fantasyland has a castle as well as several gentle rides themed after Disney movies. In the words of Walt Disney: "Fantasyland is dedicated to the young at heart and to those who believe that when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true."

Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort has ten main attractions. There are also two character greeting areas; Ariel's Grotto, which features The Little Mermaid, and the Fairytale Garden, in which Belle from Beauty and the Beast reads a classic Disney story. Cinderella Castle contains a mosaic depicting the story of Cinderella , and features Cinderella's Royal Table restaurant.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is an attraction at the Magic Kingdom park in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA; the Disneyland park in Anaheim, California, USA; the Hong Kong Disneyland park in China; and the Tokyo Disneyland park in Japan as Pooh's Hunny Hunt. Disneyland's version replaced Country Bear Jamboree, while the attraction at the Magic Kingdom replaced the widely popular Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. A huge outcry and fan protest was made when Disney announced it was replacing Mr. Toad's Wild Ride with a Winnie the Pooh attraction. The Disneyland version is very popular and features many of the classic Sherman Brothers songs from the Winnie the Pooh featurettes. There is usually little wait despite being one of the newer attractions in the park. This is very likely due to the fact that the attraction is located in the park's most north-westernly area and is almost completely hidden. The Tokyo Disneyland version, like Walt Disney World's, is located in Fantasyland, and is incredibly popular; with lines lasting up to two hours or more, likely due to its advanced, trackless, computer guided ride vehicles, which are not installed on any other Pooh attractions.

SNOW WHITE'S SCARY ADVENTURES

Snow White's Scary Adventures is a dark ride at the Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris theme parks around the world. Located in Fantasyland, it is one of the few remaining attractions operational on Disneyland's opening day in 1955. The ride's story is based on Disney's animated film version of the classic story, its very first animated film.

Walt Disney World's original take on this ride, unlike their version of Peter Pan, also suggested the guests be Snow White herself. But that of the ride scared preschoolers. At Christmas of 1994, a kinder, gentler version of the ride emerged, specifically aiming to reduce these complaints, as well as add Snow White.

PETER PAN'S FLIGHT

Peter Pan's Flight is a dark ride at the Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris theme parks around the world. Located in Fantasyland, it is one of the few remaining attractions operational on Disneyland's opening day in 1955. The ride's story is based on Disney's animated film version of the classic story.

The Florida version of the ride, which opened in 1971, expanded on the original version of Peter Pan in numerous ways. While the overall theme and format of the ride was consistent with the original in California, the Florida ride, as with the other dark rides, would feature its characters in Audio-Animatronic style. The load/unload area featured Omnimover-style moving ramps (like the Haunted Mansion) to better allow for smooth traffic flow. The scenes in the ride were larger and done in a larger scale. It's basically the same ride as in Disneyland, but the Florida version adds the Lost Boys camp and Mermaid Lagoon to the Never Land scene. Also, Hook's 48-foot pirate ship complete with deck, masts, sails and rigging was included, as well. Guests saw Hook and Peter engaged in hand-to-hand combat on the mainsail, while the boys were lashed to the mast and Wendy was about to walk from a plank. Guests would then see Peter and the Darlings posed victoriously on the ship, poised to sail into the sky and sail to London.

Friday, April 07, 2006

Mickey's PhilharMagic is a 3D interactive show at the Magic Kingdom theme park in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA and at Hong Kong Disneyland in China.
Opposite Cinderella's Golden Carrousel in Fantasyland, Philharmagic! is a 12-minute long show featuring 3D effects, interactive smells and water as well as a number of characters from Disney movies. It is shown on the largest purpose built 3D screen ever made, at one hundred and fifty feet wide.

The attraction is unique in being one of a very select amount of attractions in Disney theme parks, in which Walt Disney Imagineering has collaborated with another division of The Walt Disney Company - in this instance it was Walt Disney Feature Animation, who also joined forces with Walt Disney Imagineering to develop the Fantasmic! shows at Disneyland and the Disney-MGM Studios. Legendary Disney animator Glen Keane re-rendered Ariel from The Little Mermaid in 3D, returning after rendering her in 2D in the original movie.

IT'S A SMALL WORLD

It's a Small World is currently an attraction at Disneyland, the Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris. Like several other Disneyland attractions, "it's a small world" got its start in the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair, and after the fair closed the ride was transferred to Disneyland; when the other parks opened they, too, had versions of the ride. The attraction was designed by Mary Blair, who was also an art director on several Disney animated features including Cinderella and Peter Pan. Like many Disneyland and Walt Disney World attractions, scenes and characters were designed by Marc Davis, while his wife, Alice Davis, designed the outfits of the dolls.

The name of the ride was originally "children of the world". When Walt Disney demonstrated it to the Sherman Brothers the ride's soundtrack featured numerous national anthems all playing at once. Disney said, "I need one song." In response, the brother songwriting team wrote what is now the most performed and translated song on earth: "it's a small world". Often dismissed as trivial, on second look the song possesses a remarkably profound lyric having been written in the wake of the Cuban Missle Crisis. The deep lyric is cleverly disquised by its simple but catchy, melody and is often regarded as the first world anthem.

TOMORROWLAND- DISNEY WORLD

Tomorrowland is one of the "themed lands" at the many Magic Kingdom-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the world. In the words of Walt Disney: "Tomorrow can be a wonderful age. Our scientists today are opening the doors of the Space Age to achievements that will benefit our children and generations to come. The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future." At Disneyland Paris, this area is named Discoveryland.


Dreamflight (June 23, 1989January 1, 1996) was an attraction located in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom inside the Walt Disney World Resort, and was sponsored by Delta Air Lines. Dreamflight replaced an attraction called If You Could Fly, which was originally the attraction, If You Had Wings, sponsored by Eastern Airlines.

Delta sponsored the ride upon its opening in 1989 until the end of 1996. It reopened as Disney's Take Flight on June 5, 1997 and finally closed its doors for good in January 1998 to make room for Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, which was inspired by Disney/Pixar's Toy Story films.

IF YOU HAD WINGS

If You Had Wings (June 5, 1972June 1, 1987) was Eastern Airlines' official ride in the Magic Kingdom park at the Walt Disney World Resort. The ride was located in Tomorrowland, across from Mission to Mars. The ride took visitors on a journey through some of Eastern's tourist destinations, such as Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, the Bahamas, and New Orleans.

In the days when most rides required the expenditure of prepaid tickets, this attraction was complimentary. Little-publicized and little known, waiting lines for this attraction were nonexistent or short even when the park was crowded.

It was an undisguised promotion for the then-giant Eastern Airlines, whose corporate slogan at the time was the grandiose "The Wings of Man." It was, nevertheless, good entertainment. A sort of dark ride based on Disney's "Omnimover" ride system, it conveyed seated passengers slowly, steadily, and smoothly through a series of rooms. The experience began with a vaguely simulated "takeoff" in which the ride ascended a slope, while projections of animated outlines of seagulls and airplanes swooped backwards on the walls giving an enhanced feeling of motion and flight.

Riders then passed through a series of rooms consisting, for the most part, of theatre-like sets that included screens showing rear-projected motion picture scenes. Over forty 16 mm projectors were used in the attraction. The rooms illustrated various Eastern Airlines tourist destinations and presented tourist experiences such as seeing straw-hat markets, fishermen, limbo dancers, and steel drum bands. In general the presentation was stylized and cartoon-like rather than realistic. Repetitive music was accompanied by lyrics that said "If you had wings, you could do many things, you could widen your world, if you had wings..." The music did not succeed in masking the sound of the hidden projectors, which were audible throughout most of the ride.

The real reward was the "speed room", an elongated ellipsoid which presented first-person views taken from an airplane taking off, a train, from waterskies, motorcycles, airboats, and so forth. The scenes were projected on the walls by a 70 mm projector. The ellipsoidal room surrounded the riders, producing nearly a 360° surround view. The view was somewhat blurry and distorted. It was not like Disney's razor-sharp Circle-Vision 360 attractions; it rather resembled the fuzzy "Cinema 180" shows featured in many contemporary amusement parks. Nevertheless, the projection effect combined with the motion of the ride produced a genuinely exhilarating sense of speed, and the long, egg-like shape of the room allowed plenty of time to experience the effect.

As the end of the ride approached, the repetitive lyrics gave way to a soothing voice assured you that "You do have wings, you can do all these things, you can widen your world, Eastern...we'll be your wings"

Ultimately, riders were decanted into an arrival area containing, of all things, an Eastern Airlines reservations desk where personnel stood ready to assist any riders eager to participate in person in the scenes they had just viewed in simulation. Few seemed to take advantage of this opportunity.

Although remembered affectionately by many, a fan website devoted to the attraction notes that "If you can't remember the public uproar surrounding the closing... one possible reason is that there was none."

In 1986, Eastern dropped sponsorship of the ride and the attraction closed on June 1, 1987. Disney removed any reference to Eastern, changed the name to If You Could Fly and re-opened the ride on June 6, 1987. On January 4, 1989 If You Could Fly was permanently closed and awaited another transformation.
Soon, Delta Air Lines took over sponsorship and made plans to update and remodel the attraction. The replacement was Delta Dreamflight, which made use of the same ride system and floor layout, but all new scenery and music.

Delta dropped its sponsorship in June 1996. Instead of looking for a new sponsor as in the previous situation, they simply removed all references to Delta and renamed the attraction, Disney's Take Flight. The ride lasted two years, closing in January 1998. Disney decided to use the ride space to promote its popular film, Pixar's Toy Story. The new ride, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, again makes use of the original ride system and floor plan, but now includes an interactive twist. Riders use a laser guns, built into the ride, to shoot at targets stationed throughout the attraction.

THE TIMEKEEPER

The Timekeeper was a Circle-Vision 360° film that was performed at three Disney parks around the world. Unlike previous films, it was the first show that was arranged and filmed with an actual plot and not just visions of landscapes, and the first to utilize Audio-Animatronics. The film features a cast of European film actors of France, Italy, and England.
The Timekeeper and its original French counterpart Le Visionarium, formerly at Disneyland Paris, marked the first time that the Circle-Vision film process was used to deliver a narrative story line. This required a conceit to exlain the unusual visual charactersitics of the theater, hence the character 9-Eye. 9-Eye is sent through time by The Timekeeper, so that she can send back the surrounding images as she records them in whichever era she finds herself in.

"Le Visionarium" (the original title) was not just an ordinary Circle-Vision 360° film, but was important in the fact that for the first time in a Circle-Vision film, that creators at Walt Disney Imagineering wanted to tell an immersive story and attempt a light-hearted dialogue without just switching between scenes of landscapes, as had been done in all of the previous Circle-Vision films.

The original concept for the film had included Jules Verne and the culture of past and present European history and events, and new inventions. Along with the previous elements, the story had to do with the idea of time travel with one concept including a child that explored the story of the great European scientists of the past on a computer. However to keep the audienced focused and use imagination to depict situations and places that do not cater to the average person, the number of visions of the past and extreme situations of the plot kept increasing all the time for the project.

The film first premiered in Discoveryland at Disneyland Paris on April 12, 1992 as Le Visionarium. It was an extravagant attraction and was touted by then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner as the showcase of the land at the time. The attraction had long been on the 'Discoveryland' proposal for the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort. However when financial difficulties arose because of the EuroDisney Project, the Discoveryland Project was canaceled.

However, the film later did open as "From Time to Time" on November 21, 1994 as part of the New Tomorrowland expansion. It opened in the "Tomorrowland Metropolis Science Center" and enjoyed a long run. A few months after it opened, the attraction was formally known as The Timekeeper. The same year, the third incarnation of the ride opened at Tokyo Disneyland.

In 2001, the attraction was moved to the seasonal list of attractions along with Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. In February 2006, the Walt Disney World Resort reported that The Timekeeper was to be closed on February 26, 2006. Walt Disney World's version was the last version of the attraction to be closed. Both the Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris "Visionarium" films had closed in 2002 and 2004, respectively.

The Timekeeper attraction in Walt Disney World Resort was the last Timekeeper still entertaining guests, as the Tokyo Disneyland version closed in 2002 and was replaced with Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters in 2004 and the Disneyland Paris version closed in 2004 and is now being renovated for Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast with an opening date of April 2006.

After being placed on a seasonal schedule in April of 2001, The Timekeeper was open on a sporatic schedule during the busy seasons. After the events of September 11, 2001 the attraction faced even harder times. Due to the downfall of tourism due to the terrorist acts in the United States and the fact the film featured a scene of New York that still included the now-destroyed World Trade Center Towers, the attraction's demise was only certain. However it managed to last five more years. During the time when construction was occurring on Stitch's Great Escape, it was open more frequently along with Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. On days when the show was not opened, the queue was a meet-and-greet for such Disney characters as Stitch and Pixar characters Buzz Lightyear and The Incredibles.

As for the now abandoned show building, several rumors are abound on Disney-fan sites as to what the new attraction might. A strong possibility is that the new show or ride will be based on popular Pixar films. One plan is that a ride with a plot revolving around the film, The Incredibles is rumored to be replacing The Timekeeper. However, some sites are reporting that a remake of the ill-fated 1960s attraction from Disneyland, "Flying Saucers", might be rebuilt indoors with a theme featuring the little green aliens from Toy Story.

Another plan has a dark ride featuring characters from the film Monsters, Inc., similar to the Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! ride at Disney's California Adventure, being considered by officials and yet another rumor states that a show similar to Turtle Talk with Crush, but featuring Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc.

TOMORROWLAND INDY SPEEDWAY

Autopia is an attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and at Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France. It is also at Magic Kingdom as the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway and at Tokyo Disneyland as the Grand Circuit Raceway. It will open under the Autopia name at Hong Kong Disneyland in 2006 as part of the first expansion phase of the new resort. Disneyland's Autopia opened on July 17, 1955. Disneyland Paris' Autopia opened on April 12, 1992. Both attractions opened on the opening days of the two parks as did the Speedways at Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland. Its name is a portmanteau of the words "automobile utopia," and was popularized in academic circles by British architecture critic Reyner Banham to describe Los Angeles in his 1971 book "Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies."

The second Disneyland-type park to open was the Magic Kingdom. An opening day attraction, the Grand Prix Raceway was based on an international car race rather than the futuristic roadways of Autopia. The original sponsor was Goodyear as it supplied all of the tires on the Mark VII vehicles. The ride was expanded in 1973 and remained unchanged until the 1994 layover of Tomorrowland. The Grand Prix theme and name was dropped in favor of 'Tomorrowland Indy Speedway', but the track and vehicles remained the same, as new theming to coincide with the "New Tomorrowland" overlay was installed.

STITCH'S GREAT ESCAPE

Stitch's Great Escape! is an attraction located at Walt Disney World in the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland. It is a show which takes place in a circular theater which uses audio-animatronics, enhanced with periods of utter darkness, sounds, and smells.

The show opened on November 16, 2004, replacing the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter attraction which closed on October 12, 2003.

Walt Disney Feature Animation produced all of the attraction's character animation. Many of the animators who worked on "Lilo & Stitch" partnered with Imagineers for Stitch's Great Escape!


Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin is a popular attraction featuring characters from the Disney/Pixar film Toy Story at the Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland theme parks. Both attractions opened in 2005. It has also resided at Tokyo Disneyland as Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters since 2004, and will open at Disneyland Paris as Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast in 2006. The ride premiered at the Magic Kingdom in 1998 as Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. There is also a version of it in Walt Disney World's DisneyQuest under the name Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, but is a different ride system. The attractions use a third-generation Omnimover system, and are combination of a shooting gallery and a dark ride.

The backstory of the ride revolves around the attempts of Evil Emperor Zurg to steal the "power supplies" (i.e., batteries) used to power the space vehicles of the "Little Green Men." Participants are "Star Command" raw recruits sent to defeat Zurg. The queue area is awash in the chartreuse, white, and bright blue hues of Buzz Lightyear himself. Since Buzz Lightyear is a toy, the attraction is cleverly scaled to give the illusion that one has just been reduced to the size of an action figure, featuring such detail as giant, exposed Phillips screw heads and an explanation of the interactive phase of the ride that resembles a toy's instruction sheet, only on a gigantic scale. An Audio-Animatronic Buzz Lightyear figure and giant Etch-a-Sketch provide explanation of the "mission." The Buzz Lightyear figure utilizes both the latest Audio-Animatronic technology combined with an innovative video rear projection system for Buzz's face, resulting in one of the most lifelike Audio-Animatronic figures in Disney theme park history.

TOMORROWLAND TRANSIT AUTHORITY

The Tomorrowland Transit Authority (also called the Blue Line) is a people mover system in Tomorrowland, in the Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida. It has one 'station', at Rockettower Plaza, where passengers enter and exit onto a circular moving platform. All of the cars are blue with silver sides.

The WEDway PeopleMover opened on July 1, 1975, based on the PeopleMover at Disneyland in California. Unlike Disneyland's version, it did not use the same propulsion system, instead using linear induction motors. Because of that, Goodyear did not sponsor it. Another notable difference is the fact that the cars are not covered, but the track is. The original narration was provided by longtime Disney voice, Jack Wagner. In June of 1985, his narration was replace by ORAC One-the commuter computer, who would guide you along the tour. Finally, when the attraction's name was changed to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority in Spring of 1994 to coincide with the new Tomorrowland, it was given another narration track.

The line is a one-way loop, with sections where the two directions run next to each other. The only switches are at Space Mountain, where the main track passes through and storage tracks run around the outside.

SPACE MOUNTAIN

Space Mountain is a popular indoor roller coaster ride at five Disney theme parks. The indoor design allows controlled lighting to selectively hide portions of the track. This greatly increases the element of surprise experienced by riders, which can compensate for the absence of some of the track elements typically required to make outdoor coasters exciting. At the time it opened, it was the most expensive roller coaster ever created. Even after inflation adjustment, the attraction surpasses the original Disneyland attractions.

Space Mountain premiered at the Magic Kingdom in 1975, Disneyland in 1977, Tokyo Disneyland in 1983, Disneyland Paris in 1995, and Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005. When the Paris installation opened, it became the first completely indoor, themed roller coaster with a synchronized sound track. The Disneyland installation was upgraded in 1996, making it the first completely indoor, themed roller coaster with a synchronized sound track in America. The layouts and soundtracks vary from installation to installation. For example, the Magic Kingdom version has two intertwined tracks. The Paris version features a launch and three inversions.

Walt Disney World's Space Mountain was the first Space Mountain built at any of the Disney parks. It was the world's first rollercoaster ride that was completely controlled and operated by a computer system. It was originally conceived to be partially outdoors, but it was changed after research proved that the Florida weather would not work well with the coaster. The attraction is different than the later version built at Disneyland, in that there are actually two separate tracks (not unlike Disneyland's Matterhorn Bobsleds) instead of just the one, although both tracks are almost identical. In fact, the overall track design and original rockets that were used up until the early 1980's were very similar to the new bobsleds that were added to the Matterhorn in 1978 at Disneyland. Also, the rockets used are single-file instead of Disneyland's side-by-side seating. The queue area inside the Magic Kingdom's mountain is also much larger and more open than the Disneyland version. The loading area is actually located directly below the actual ride itself, where as at Disneyland the loading area is in a separate area from the rest of the ride. The special effects in the Florida version are also much different, including the lift hills, the main ride itself and the exit tunnels. The original rockets also had seat belt restraints, but by 1980 they were replaced by newer rockets with upgraded lap bars restraints. The rockets' safety restraints were again upgraded sometime in 1998 to a more improved T-bar design. Also, since the attraction was designed before Disneyland's, it is slightly slower, not nearly as dark and is also not quite as smooth. These differences are even more apparent after Disneyland upgraded their Space Mountain in mid-2005.

In the post-ride area, riders will hear clips from two Esquivel songs: "Music
Makers" and "Sentimental Journey".

For many years, the ride featured extensive theming to highlight sponsors, which included at one time, RCA and later for a time, Federal Express. During the RCA years, the exit showcased the Home of Future Living featuring video baby monitors, large screen projection televisions, video disc players, and other comtemporary electronics that RCA was selling at the time. Later when FedEx was the sponsor, the ride featured two astronauts with a package floating in space, a robot figure and robot dog with a package, "SMTV" queue video with comedy bits and futuristic FedEx ads. As of 2004, this theming had been removed, leaving some conspicuous gaps.

CAROUSEL OF PROGRESS

The Carousel of Progress is a Disney theme park attraction that follows the journey of a typical American family through a century of technological progress. The attraction was created by Walt Disney himself. It has been performed at the 1964 New York World's Fair and Disneyland Park. It is currently being performed at the Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort.

After it's play at Disneyland, GE continued its sponsorship of the attraction in Florida. The GE Carousel of Progress opened in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom Park in 1975. The show remained relatively the same from Disneyland, with a few changes.

"There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" was replaced by another Sherman brothers song, "The Best Time of Your Life", to better reflect GE's then-current marketing campaign. The post-show with "Progress City" was also not included in the move. But, most of the model can still be seen on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority route today.

In 1985, GE decided to end its sponsorship of the attraction. The show dropped all references to GE and was slightly revised to keep it up to date and closed in 1993 for a more substantial revision. It reopened in 1994 as Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, a tribute to the man who created it. Included the restoration was the return of "There's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" as the theme song, and a new narration track featuring Jean Shepherd.

With its continuous showings from 1964 to today, the Carousel of Progress has become the most performed show in the history of American theater, as well as the most-seen stage show in America.

The show itself has been threatened by closing for a few years now, having been on seasonal operation for a few years, though as of now, is back on regular operation. It is rumored that the show would be gutted and replaced with a reworked version of the Flying Saucers attraction that used to be at Disneyland in the '60's. Disney fans object to this and there have been a few petitions online in an attempt to save it. Interestingly, Walt Disney himself said this was his absolute favorite attraction and always wanted it in the park (Disneyland, presumably) for the rest of its operation.