More "100 Years of Magic" Rumors

J. Thornhill

Watermouse Captain
Joined
Sep 6, 1999
Messages
146
Found this on another site and thought you might find it interesting. As you can see by the credit, it was originally posted on R.A.D.P. but I must have missed it. Perhaps you did too?

_______________________________________________________________________

Source:
Newsgroup: rec.arts.disney.parks
Poster: KaliRiverRapids

Some very cool things taking place in Walt Disney World for -- and during -- Walt's 100th Anniversary Celebration. Yes, you know about the lighted badges and some of the parades already, here are some of the more subtle touches that will win guests over in coming months.

1. World Drive, coming off 192, has a big arched entrance just before you hit MGM Studios to the right and Animal Kingdom to the left. They are in the process of grooving the road, just as you hit the arch. Drive at 35 mph and you will hear the opening bars of "When You Wish Upon a Star" -- meaning the width of the grooves of the road will have your tires buzzing out those seven notes in perfect sequence. Nice. The old Tower of Terror ad in the middle of the place is being worked on now, but it will be completely replaced come October with a huge black and white Walt headshot portrait, with the words "For Walt" in Walt script at an angle on the upple left corner.

2. MGM. While the animation studio has had its problems with anything not having a Pixar stamp on it lately, the Animation Tour area will be revamped, yet again. It will be a much shorter area, through more of the active animation areas. What is going to happen with the extra space? Animator's Palatte, the cool Disney Cruise Lines dining room with the color changing rooms, is coming. MGM already had a pretty strong dining presence, adding Animator's Palatte will make it even better (and, unlike the boat's cycles timed to your dinner, this will be continious -- so you can be seated at any point throughout the presentation).

3. The Pins. Yes, the initial launch will be for the simple lighted pins that light up in certain "magical" areas. In January, to spice up sales, a new pin will then be a "surprise limited edition" release, with sound. It will cost $7 more, but it will interact with certain attractions and stores (yes, corporate tie-ins are already there for the McDonald's jingle and certain other sponsored pavillions).

4. Animal Kingdom. The big problem with Animal Kingdom is that there is not enough funding for major attractions, yet they can't seem to close any later than 5pm even during the peak summer season. No, Beastly Kingdom won't happen until after Dinorama is complete, but they are learning from Disneyland's California Adventure and trying to add more "stay until dusk" events. The biggie from a gastronomical side is that the under-rated and under-visited African counter-service restaurant will become Boma Boma -- a buffeteria offshoot with a very similar all-you-can-eat approach as the popular Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge.
 
These sound like nice little touches for the Celebration. Hope these rumors become confirmed facts.

Phil
 
1. World Drive, coming off 192, has a big arched entrance just before you hit MGM Studios to the right and Animal Kingdom to the left. They are in the process of grooving the road, just as you hit the arch. Drive at 35 mph and you will hear the opening bars of "When You Wish Upon a Star" -- meaning the width of the grooves of the road will have your tires buzzing out those seven notes in perfect sequence. Nice. The old Tower of Terror ad in the middle of the place is being worked on now, but it will be completely replaced come October with a huge black and white Walt headshot portrait, with the words "For Walt" in Walt script at an angle on the upple left corner.

False, there is no construction occuring on the road. The TOT ad was being worked on but it's already been completed. All they did was add the Hollywood tower hotel sign above the out of control elevator car and ad a fresh coat of paint.

. MGM. While the animation studio has had its problems with anything not having a Pixar stamp on it lately, the Animation Tour area will be revamped, yet again. It will be a much shorter area, through more of the active animation areas. What is going to happen with the extra space? Animator's Palatte, the cool Disney Cruise Lines dining room with the color changing rooms, is coming. MGM already had a pretty strong dining presence, adding Animator's Palatte will make it even better (and, unlike the boat's cycles timed to your dinner, this will be continious -- so you can be seated at any point throughout the presentation).

There are no plans to change the annimation tour at all.

I don't know anything at all numbers 3 and 4...
 

I was actually kind of hoping the animation tour could change just a little. I'd love to see some of the interactive things like the ones at DCA added to the tour, maybe at the end where those exhibits are now.
 
As some background – there really was a test done several years ago on the “tire music” scheme. Disney wants to make it very clear that your entering their property and someone came up with this idea. The test used the opening bars to ‘Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah’. It showed that unless you hit the bumps at EXACTLY the right speed it sounded as if your car had just driven over the wreckage of The Partridge Family bus and your own muffler was now dragging on the asphalt. The concept was dropped.

As for the animation exhibit, there’s only one area that isn’t already in Florida – and the “which character are you like” game from there is going to be part of the Walt “celebration”.
 
Sorry AV, the WDW Animation Exhibit doesn't have the voice over portion either. I've noticed that both the "what character would you be" and the Ursula's Grotto (voice over) are among the most popular with the younger children...

On the other hand, the DCA Animaiton exhibit doesn't have real live animators (M-F during working hours) or the exhibits at the very end, just before you enter the shop.

You Win some, you Lose some.

Sarangel
 
Sarangel: There's a voice over booths similar to that at the Soundworks outside ABC Sound Studios, so It would be silly to have the Ursula's Grotto stuff in the same park.

Another Voice: Where are the “which character are you like” booths going to be at for the Celebration? In the Sorcerer's Hat? This would be great! (Save me a trip all the way to DCA to see this).
 
Thanks meeko, I had heard that the video for the voice-over booths at the Studios had already changed to the DCA version. It may wait for the next rehab. The “character matching” screens are supposed to be in the hat and in the “celebration” kiosks in the other parks. The same program (with pictures and without video or sound) is supposed to be on-line somewhere in Disney.com. And Ms. Sarangel is right, there aren’t any real animators at DCA (although there is a actor that plays one in the drawing presentation).
 















Receive up to $1,000 in Onboard Credit and a Gift Basket!
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE







New Posts







DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter DIS Bluesky

Back
Top