Associated with 'The Enterprise'
Tomorrowland will feature prominently in the new expansion areas. Space Mountain (which has been closed for the last 6 months) will relaunch with a brand new state of the art roller coaster inside. No looping will be involved, but the new technology should give the ride a new facelift with awesome twists and turns, hurtling guests through the darkness of space. Also the Buzz Lightyear ride will make its debut as well. The Buzz Lightyear is currently operating in Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom in Disneyworld. This will take up the whole section directly across from Star Tours (where the Circle Vision Theater used to be, and Innerspace before that). Also, the Submarines are returning, though I think those will be officially part of Fantasyland.
It should be lots of fun and I can't wait to experience it firsthand. I was just there the week after Christmas last year and it was still as exciting as always, but Tomorrowland definitely needed work. The only things there were open at the time was Star Tours and the Honey I Shrunk the Audience.
Guests met Figment for the first time in april 1983, when the playful purple dragon starred in the original journey into imagination attraction. Figment's role was reduced in 2000, when the attraction became Journey Into Your Imagination, which continued the imagination institute story line established by the adjacent "Honey, I Shrunk The Audience" attraction.
The new Journey Into Imagination with Figment will return Figment to a starring role and revive the character's theme song ("One Little Spark," written by legendary Disney songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman), while still maintaining the imagination institute story line.
The attraction's story line calls for the free-spirited Figment to join the practical Dr. Nigel Channing to lead guests on a journey that will engage their imagination and senses. Alex Wright, show set designer for Walt Disney imagineering, said color will play a key role in the new attraction.
"Each of the sensory labs has its own color scheme now," Alex said. "the smell lab is green, the sight lab is yellow and the sound lab is blue and, even though you don't really go into them, (you'll see that) the taste lab is orange and the touch (lab) is red." Guests can look for Figment to influence the color schemes as well. "Everything Figment touches turns to purple," alex said. Kathy Magnum, Creative Vice President and show producer for wdi, said her team has created a bold new experience within the confines of the existing facility.
"Even though we keep the building the same - the ride track, the facility walls and certain set pieces are reused - i think the tone and the attitude is going to be so different that you won't recognize them from before," Kathy said. "The ride path is essentially the same, but there's one thing that we really changed. now, we stop the vehicles in each scene so you can watch something happening and then move on. we're telling a linear story, and that's really hard to do with a long train of cars. What guests in the front car see is not what guests in the back car are going to see. so, by stopping, you get this kind of little theater. When the scene's over, we turn you back loose to move on to the next scene. I think that this was a really big breakthrough for us in trying to figure out how to tell the story with Figment."
No longer will boat drivers be allowed to fire fake guns at fake hippos. Instead, the gunplay will be replaced by more jokes. Also, along with that, Disneyland will no longer be selling the wood weapons sold in Frontierland any longer. Kids have been buying the toy wood guns for decades, but will now have to settle for something else instead. They had to fight to keep the electronic shooting gallery open in Frontierland where you can shoot the targets that pass you by. I mean come on, it is Frontierland. What was the frontier without a six shooter?!
The Walt Disney World resort community, which consists of several hundred acres of land, will the best place to vacation in this country. With four distinctly different theme parks (The Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM Studios, and Disney's Animal Kingdom), there is a little something for everything. Not to mention the Richard Petty Driving Experience at the Walt Disney World Speedway and the Wide World of Sports complex for that sports fan. Several golf courses and water sports are also quite prevelant at WDW.
If you've never been there before, I highly recommend it. I've personal been there enough times now to use both hands to count. It's a fabulous place that really isn't all that expensive if you get a decent deal through a travel agent (we got ours through AAA).
So if you get time, check out Walt Disney World, or be sure to visit the new California Adventure in Los Angeles, adjacent to Disneyland, which is now called the Disneyland Resort.
REVIEWS / GRAND SLAM X / TOP MEN / TOP WOMEN / PHOTO ALBUM / DISNEY / CCG / MEMORIAM / SPORTS / WEDDING
FAN FICTION / SOUNDS / SOUNDS 2
MEMORIAM
