Compare and Contrast: Part 2

"This concept here will have to be something that is unique, so there is a distinction between Disneyland in California and whatever Disney does in Florida."

- - Walt Disney

"We know that our Guests want a 'one-Disney' experience and we must organize around that expectation . . . Prime examples of our successes are the establishment of many maintenance and safety practices, holiday castle lighting that began in Paris and expanded into our other theme parks, the speed with which we integrated the High School Musical shows into our parks around the world, and the simultaneous openings of Toy Story Mania at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's California Adventure."

- - Jay Rasulo

See the original here.

Catharsis

"Get it out of here! Get it all out of here!"

"Don't you want to keep the fire extinguisher?"

"Nah, too many bad memories..."

The bulldozers have arrived.

Loose Ends

Besides It's A Small World, there were a few things that I saw (or did not see, fortunately) at Disneyland last Friday.

The Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough

Now this is the kind of restoration I want to see at Disneyland. The new walkthrough takes an old classic and utilizes new technology to resurrect it while keeping true to its original vision. It's one of those little things that Disneyland used to be known for. It's one of those little things that completes the Disneyland experience.

Here, a marketing tie-in (for the DVD release of Sleeping Beauty) is used for good rather than evil. Disneyland absolutely needs more A and B tickets like this. Give us our People Mover, our Skyway and our Disney Gallery back as well!

Toy Story Midway Mania

Before this attraction ever opened I was commenting on how great the building was coming out. I saw it in person last May using some free tickets I got from work. It looked good then and it looked good now. If that's how the rest of Paradise Pier is going to look, sign me up for a visit to DCA in 2012. This was the first time however, that I actually had the opportunity to ride it.

While the ride itself is simply 3D screens and painted flats, Potato Head is a mesmerizing audio-animatronic. I only wish WDI could put animatronics like him back into the attractions!

The main attraction is interesting, but just not my cup of tea. I was more fascinated by the ride system, how everything was controlled and managed by the computer software that powers the shooting game, which is actually pretty good in the context of a video game. It was easy to get a hang of the physics and the process of shooting down plates and balloons came naturally to me. I ended up beating my girlfriend by a wide margin even though she had played countless times already.

I found the shooting method to be odd though. I would have envisioned a trigger or a button to push. Here, you have to grasp the knob and pull the string in a rapidly repetitive motion to shoot. Needless to say, my right arm has had more than enough practice for this game.

I just hate 3D effects though. 3D has never looked good to me. After all these years it's the same old glasses on the same old screens. I go to Disney theme parks for their fully realized environments and captivating stories, not to play video games. If I want to play games I've got a Wii at home. A 3D attraction could never be more three dimensional than The Haunted Mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean.

At the end of the day, however, Midway Mania is a great addition to a struggling theme park. It didn't replace anything substantial and offers something else to do in this Frankenstein of a park.

Fry Cart

Oh, what a glorious sight! When I heard that McDonald's was getting the boot from Disneyland, I felt like shouting, "And don't let the door hit your ass on the way out!"

I made a point to visit the former spot of the Fry Cart, and now that you can experience its absence, you realize how much it intruded on the area. Not only is the cart gone, but so is the awful smell.

Thank you, Disney, for not renewing the McDonald's contract. We can now breathe a little easier in Frontierland.

Blue Sky Cellar

What a marvelous idea. Not only does the Blue Sky Cellar give us model and concept art junkies our fix, but it allows Disney to advertise some upcoming attractions to park guests in a way that doesn't feel like a hard sell. It's win-win.

While there is no doubt in my mind that DCA will be vastly improved over what opened in 2001, I can't help but be disappointed how much Pixar is going into the park. Even if I can't get into the world of Cars, I think I will be able to appreciate the investment and work that is going into the new land.

I'm most excited about the entrance plaza and especially the Red Cars. As a mass transit advocate the sad story of the Red Cars hits home. It's wonderful that as rail is getting a new lease on life in California, WDI has decided to create a tribute to the trolley that built Los Angeles. Bravo.

But it's only until some new Disneyland concept art is installed inside the cellar that I will be really excited about visiting it.

Operations and Maintenance

Main Street is currently undergoing quite a bit of refurbishment and the work that has been done looks great. The paint is gorgeous and there only a few burned out light bulbs.

Tomorrowland on the other hand is continuing to age badly. Space Mountain's queue continues to deteriorate. Its dome is so dirty that even a heavy downpour can't make a dent in the dirt, but can only spread it around. Paint is peeling everywhere, on railings and even up high on buildings such as Star Tours. As always, the rotting People Mover track is a sad sight.

Renovate Tomorrowland already. This corner of the park urgently needs it. It's time for a New New New Tomorrowland.

Cast Members

Despite poor wages, cast members can do nothing but smile even in this economy. While there will always be cast members whose spirits have been crushed and look like they want to throw themselves in front of a Matterhorn bobsled (I don't blame them!), many are friendly, personable and some even seem to take pride in what they are doing, especially the Disneyland Railroad cast members.

I always feel for the old dudes working at the park, though. They do such a great job, but they can't be getting paid much. I hope they are all retired, just working at Disneyland after a career of making it big. But I feel for the old timers who I imagine trek over to the Katella lot after work, collapse into their 1989 Accord and drive home to their studio apartment.

These guys are the soul of operations. Their interactions with the guests are always great, and I'm not talking about Maynard.

Guests

I don't know what it was about Friday, but the assholes were out in full effect. Two groups were especially problematic.

Two guys on Small World talked the entire length of the ride about how gay and stupid the attraction was, and their comments weren't just about the new characters!

On Indiana Jones a group with an obvious smell of alcohol coming off of them carried on throughout the queue. I've seen my fair share of rambunctious yahoos at Disneyland so it wasn't a big deal at first. They even asked me to take their picture for them and I obliged. Then they got on the ride.

First, they take flash pictures of themselves, blinding everybody in the row behind them. They do this not once, not twice, but thrice. I had to lean over and say, "Enough with the flash pictures already!"

Once the ride got underway, the drunk chick in their group starts flailing all over the place and putting her hands up in a way that grazed my forehead. It was insane. Once at the exit, they went left. We went right.

I had thought about alerting security about this obviously drunk off their ass group parading around Disneyland and how they were pissing off everybody they came into contact with, but then I would just be a square.

Conclusion

Except for It's A Small World, I've found that some things have improved at Disneyland in the past year. However, there are still many fixes to make before Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth again.

What Disney Does Right: Staying Open

In 1998 Mickey's Toontown closed two hours before park closing. Big Thunder Mountain opened an hour after the park did. Major attractions such as the Jungle Cruise also closed early back then, but protest ultimately reversed that policy. Shops, not surprisingly, did not have their operating hours cut.

In 2009, things are much different. On Friday, February 6th around 10:30PM, half an hour before closing time, when a rampant downpour had chased most guests out of the park, Toontown remained open. Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin was serving the few guests that braved the rain. The land was literally a ghost town, my girlfriend and I two of roughly six or seven guests walking around. Yet Mickey's House, Minnie's House and Roger Rabbit stayed open. Understandably, Gadget's Go-Coaster and Goofy's Bounce House were closed.

This is something Disney does right. The Submarine Voyage was a walk-on. It's A Small World, despite re-opening after a long refurbishment that day, was deserted. A lesser park would have closed entirely.

When the park actually did close, few shops on Main Street remained open for that extra hour. Imagine that, attractions staying open and shops closing early. Even Winnie the Pooh, which isn't even that popular when it isn't raining, stayed open. It must have cycled through five empty vehicles as my girlfriend was dragging me to ride it.

I certainly don't have access to Disneyland financials, but the marginal cost of running an attraction to closing time can't be that high. While closed attractions only disappoint paying customers, keeping attractions open mean more options for latecomers and those looking to squeeze an extra bit of fun out of a long day.

Compare this to just a decade ago when the strategy was to close rides early to save cash. Disney said business was slow. No wonder it was slow. They were running the place into the ground!

Keeping attractions open creates a sense of respect for the guest, at least in my view. I hope it continues to stay a priority.

Applying the Wisdom of John Hench to It's A Small World

John Hench is dead. I think that's the one thing we can all agree on in this update.

Before he died Hench wrote quite a bit on the principles of Imagineering in his book Designing Disney: Imagineering and the Art of the Show. In order to understand, analyze, and critique the recent changes to It's A Small World, I have looked to Hench's wisdom for guidance.

What follows are my interpretations and mine alone. I invite everyone who reads this, all three of you, to respond with your own interpretations of Hench's words, Small World and the changes that have taken place.

The concern over Small World isn't so much over whether or not the changes will look good. It's about how they affect the overall story, theme and message of the attraction. Here, Hench explains the principle of a story place.

When we design any area of a Disney park, we transform a space into a story place. Every element must work together to create an identity that supports the story of that place--structures, entrances and exits, walkways, landscaping, water elements, and modes of transportation. Every element must in its form and color engage the guests' imagination and appeal to their emotions.

Okay, let's define this term as it relates to Small World. What is the story of this place? If we showed up to It's a Small World with no knowledge of its history or the interpretations of others, what could we directly infer about the story from the attraction itself?

We board a boat and enter the main show building and the first thing that would become apparent is that we are taking a cruise around the world. Each section showcases a different country's culture, style of dress, customs and that sort of thing.

If we are paying attention to the song that's being played we infer a theme of unity and peace. Though these countries may be different on the outside, they tend to have more in common than not on the inside. Corny stuff, I know. It's an attraction that challenges our preconceived notions of what the world is like, and shows us a vision of how the world could or should be. There are no bombs flying through the air, for example.

Astute individuals may realize that the singing dolls are meant to symbolize the children of the world, and that children are more likely to believe in the naive ideal of world peace before they become cynical adults. If you put two young children from Israel and Palestine in a room together they are not likely to fight, unless they've been brainwashed by adults to hate each other.

That's just my interpretation. Yours may be different. But now that we have defined our story place we can analyze whether or not the Disney characters, the USA scene and Disney melodies interspersed in the soundtrack support that story.

The New Music

What do you think of when you hear, "When You Wish Upon A Star"? I usually think of Pinocchio or the fireworks show. While the song is beautiful, how can its inclusion in Small World be justified if it distracts you from the ride's message and takes your imagination to another place? The same is true for the other Disney melodies now present in the attraction.

If details are to be added to an existing attraction they must support and enhance the attraction's theme and message or else they become needless clutter. The saving grace of adding Jack Sparrow to Pirates of the Caribbean is that, at the very least, he was technically a pirate (though there are other concerns about the story there).

A detail should only be used if it is essential to the story in some way. There is a big difference between being overwhelmed with detail that really amounts to clutter, and the feeling of perfection that is real storytelling. As designers, we must not make the mistake of thinking that a "big look" with lots of detail is enough.

The New Characters

How does the addition of Donald Duck, Stitch and Mulan support Small World's story place? That's what opponents of the changes have been asking since the news was first broken by Disneyland muckraker Al Lutz.

While supporters have been unable to articulate how they add to the attraction, they claim the characters do not detract. An issue similar to the new musical cues presents itself. The characters divert your attention away from the children of the world. Instead of the naive ideals of world peace and unity, your imagination is focused on Donald Duck and his crazy antics or Aladdin and Jasmine and their wondrous magic carpet ride. Those are all good things, but they belong elsewhere.

The characters are a contradiction, a danger John Hench explains.

The minute details that produce the visual experience are really the true art of the Disney themed show, its greatest source of strength. The details corroborate every story point, immersing guests into the story idea, and that if one detail contradicts another, guests will feel let down or even deceived.

The additions create within Small World two separate story ideas, that of the children of the world who believe in unity and peace, and the Disney characters themselves. The Disney characters are competently constructed. I'm sure many of us would want one displayed in our homes. But they don't support Small World's story idea, they are supporting another entirely different story idea. The ride's new marketing even encourages guests to keep an eye out for familiar faces, overshadowing the original meaning of the attraction further. Is Small World now a character hunt?

No, Small World's new residents are simply inappropriate details.

This is why he insisted that even details that some designers thought no guest would notice-such as the replicated period doorknobs on Main Street, U.S.A.-were important. Inappropriate details confuse a story's meaning.

Small World may not be a period replication of a real life object. But in creating this original attraction, WED has established some rules in the development of its story idea that future Imagineer's must follow. The most basic rule of which is to make sure added details support the attraction's story idea.

The New Scene

The LA Times is reporting that the USA scene now present in Small World was once sketched by Mary Blair with the intention of going into the original attraction. Someone who is more familiar than I with the backroom dealings of Disney in the 1960s will have to verify that one, but one thing is clear, the United States of America was not given its own scene in the original version of It's A Small World. Nor was it added when the attraction was moved to Disneyland after the World's Fair.

It would be difficult to figure out just why the USA scene was not present in the original Small World. Many of the ride's original designers are now dead. By telling the LA Times that tidbit of information, Disney is implying that the USA scene was always meant to be. Maybe it wasn't.

If we go back and look at the rich history of this iconic attraction, I think we can agree that the original intent of It's A Small World was to showcase the cultures of the world to Americans (or to whip up something real quick for Pepsi, who sponsored the ride at the time). Why, then, would we need to "discover" our own culture near the end of the ride?

Events earlier this decade have made "GO USA #1 NEVER FORGET" type jingoism very popular but it has experienced a backlash in recent years. The symbolism of an American scene replacing the rain forest scene has become something of a punchline. As someone who loves his country, I'm sick of hearing about America.

There are many places to see patriotism in action at Disney Parks. Walt Disney World has Liberty Square and the Hall of Presidents. Epcot has The American Experience. Disneyland's Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln will return soon. Main Street itself, with its moving flag procession performed every single day, is a slice of Americana. There is a place for patriotism. Small World is not that place. Here, the USA scene seems to contradict the historical context of the attraction itself.

Conclusion

While the additions to Small World may be aesthetically pleasing to some guests, they have no place in the attraction. Some don't want to make a fuss, I understand.

The most confusing thing to me, however, is why those who speak out against the changes and try to examine Disneyland at a higher level are told to get a life or worse. Disneyland itself would not exist had Walt Disney not sat on a bench at Griffith Park while watching his kids, bored out of his skull, and wondered why going to the park couldn't be so much more.

And They Say Purists Get Riled Up...

As seen on Re-Imagineering.



All while defending Under New Management of all things. Hehe.

The Best of Both Worlds

One of the arguments often spouted by those in favor of the addition of Jack Sparrow to Pirates of the Caribbean is based on a fear that guests who are familiar with only the movie version of the famous attraction will ride and furrow their brows in a vain attempt to understand why Sparrow was not present during the experience.

Of course, we could explain to them that Pirates of the Caribbean was in fact built long before the movie entered production, but that would be far too difficult. Following the logic of the argument, I suppose it was much easier to stoop to the lowest common denominator and simply add Jack Sparrow to the legendary boat ride. The extra revenue from all the new pirate junk Disney could sell at the exit was just the icing on the cake.

I've been wondering, why doesn't it go both ways?

Alright, hear me out. Let's say the Alice in Wonderland ride isn't relevant anymore. I've got the fix. A new character!

They should add one of those hammer birds but this one should be a wisecracking hammer bird with an attitude. And throughout the attraction he makes wisecracks like, "NAILED 'EM, ALICE!" because he's a hammer, you see, and when he hits one of those playing card dudes that defend the queen he goes, "BUY WAR BONDS." and they don't paint the roses red anymore but red, white, and blue. Go America.

The character becomes a smash hit and lines go through the roof, literally. People have to stand on ladders because there is just no more room on the ground. At annual passholder previews a record amount of churros are consumed. Hammer birds become the new plush sensation.

So why not take that new character and insert him into Alice and Wonderland: The Movie, re-release it, and burn all old copies of the original film? I mean, if I'm riding Alice in Wonderland and see a wisecracking hammer bird thing with an attitude, I'm going to be confused if I watch the movie and he's not there.

Let's add a whole bunch of other Disney characters to Peter Pan's Flight and then let's desecrate the classic Peter Pan movie by adding those new characters to it. Why not? We'll be rich! Let's add Disney characters to every ride! When I'm riding Splash Mountain in a Disney theme park, I expect to see the Three Caballeros. There's no excuse.

Wait a second, didn't people get pissed when they released horrible straight-to-video sequels of classic animated Disney movies? So why don't they get pissed when classic attractions designed by WED are given cheap makeovers under the illusion of progress? When George Lucas changed his films, he never heard the end of it. But when someone messes with Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean, those who speak up are told to get a life.

Yeah.

Mom, why is visiting a Disney theme park so f'ing complicated?

Upon discovering the Walt Disney World Moms Panel the first question that comes to mind is whether or not the "moms" are real. I have to wonder if all of these questions from real moms like you and I are being answered by some guy in India copying and pasting answers from a script. Please to be having a magical day at the Land of Disney!

The Walt Disney World Moms Panel is basically Disney admitting that going to one their theme parks is getting way too goddamned complicated.

There's Magic Your Way Parkhoppers, Disney Dining Plans, dining reservations, Fastpass, more theme parks than Disney is able to properly maintain, inconsistent transportation options, free birthday tickets, annual passes, Southern California/Florida resident discounts, payment plans, child swap, expiration dates, specially ticketed events and early entry. It's no wonder visitng a Disney theme park has become a baffling ordeal.

The complexity of modern Disney theme parks has allowed third parties to step in and offer questionably useful services such as RideMax and Tour Guide Mike, not to mention a bevy of vacation planners, to help retarded people like us deal with Disney's confusing theme park policies and practices. You know the ones that go, "EX-DISNEY WORLD CAST MEMBER SPEAKS! ALL THE SECRETS TO GET THE BEST DISCOUNTS so just pay $15 and download this PDF of information that's freely available pretty much everywhere..." Since when does a theme park need tech support?

It's become a lucrative industry and perhaps the Disney World Moms Panel is meant to stifle such third party services. Why go to Tour Guide Mike when you can go straight to Disney?

However, what I find surprising is that Disney doesn't even believe in their own advice.

The views expressed in the Walt Disney World® Moms Panel are those of the panelists, who are independent contractors, and may not be factually accurate. These views are not intended to reflect the opinions of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Online, its affiliates, its management, its agents or its employees. Panelists have received/will receive a trip to the Walt Disney World® Resort for their participation on the Panel.

Here's a site what is owned and controlled by Disney, and most likely heavily moderated so no negative comments are posted, and yet the company will not stand behind the advice it offers? Disney is always in cover-your-ass mode. I wonder if when Iger speaks at a shareholder meeting the disclaimer above pops up on a video screen before he opens his mouth.

Okay, maybe the "Moms" are real since Disney apparently doesn't want to be held responsible for what they say. I mean, Disney shills aren't hard to find on the various Disney park message boards, after all. And boy do they shill. Here's a simple question that could have been easily found on a more streamlined and easy to use official web site.

I have already ordered tickets for our daughter and grandsons. Where are the Will Call locations for picking up the tickets?

Alright, how would you answer this question? You'd probably list the will call locations, maybe even provide a link to a map. How do the Moms answer it?

The Will Call option is a wonderful option that Disney made available back in "2002" for guests who would like to purchase their Park admission tickets separately

Will call is wonderful? What? It's a standard feature of any venue that sells tickets to something. You pick up your tickets at will call. Suddenly it's this wonderful magical thing when Disney does it? Knott's Berry Farm has will call. Not even a cast member would call will call wonderful. "Hey cast member, where's will call?" "Oh, the magical wonderful fantastical will call booth is that way!"

Remember, the Walt Disney Company, its subsidiaries and shareholders do not necessarily agree with the statement that will call is wonderful.

Unfortunately, they won't answer my questions.

Hello!

I am the proud father of two cynical Disneyland® purists. We begrudgingly plan to visit Epcot® in May and are wondering about the best time to visit guest services and complain about the infiltration of characters and thrill rides into the park. When will Epcot® be restored to its former glory?

Thanks!

What do people want to know when they are planning to visit a Disney theme park? How about, "Where is it?" and "Much much does it cost to get in?" It shouldn't be any more complicated than that!

That's why I have all the answers, and if there's one thing I love about Disneyland purists it's that they always have completely reasonable solutions to the perceived problems they furiously rant about. Instead of creating a web site to help people plan their complex Disney vacation, why not make the whole experience less complicated? Here's what I would do at Disneyland and Disney World, where applicable.

Immediately discontinue Fastpass.

Significantly decrease the price of 1-day 1-park tickets (some of the purest among us may even argue for the return of ticket books). Currently the deck is stacked against 1-day visitors. How long until Disney starts paying you to stay a 12th day?

Significantly increase the price of annual passes, eliminating SoCal and similar cheap passports.

Expand the monorail system to provide transportation to all theme parks, most hotels and most parking areas. Buses and trams can supplement monorail transportation, not replace it.

Immediately cease all promotions such as "What Will You Celebrate" promotion and declare 2009 the year of no promotions. Extend the year of no promotions by 18 months for no reason.

Finally, stop this ridiculous Moms Panel. Streamline the various theme park web sites so that basic, relevant information (like where it is and how much it costs) is easy to find. Theme park advertising should be gender and age nuetral. Disney theme parks are meant to attract children and adults, men and women, boys and girls, of all ages. Not just moms and their DS9 and DD5.

Give us IDP24's (Insufferable Disney Purists in their mid-twenties) a break.