Random Thread & the *insert topic here*

[AmandaSparks730]

INTERESTING FACTS

The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular debuted at Disney's Hollywood Studios on August 25, 1989.

The Indiana Jones amphitheater holds 2000 guests.

The small golden idol used in the first act of this show is an exact replica of the idol in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The giant rolling ball is 12 feet in diameter and weighs 440 pounds. The show's sets weigh as much as 100 tons each, which makes them the largest moving sets in history.

The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular closed for six months in 2000 to refurbish the sets and prepare it for the addition of Fastpass, but no major changes were made to the format of the show itself.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

INTRODUCTION

Sounds Dangerous, which debuted spring 1999 at the ABC Sound Studios, allows guests to experience the use of three-dimensional sound and "binaural audio technology." This attraction features comedian and actor Drew Carey, star of the popular ABC-TV shows The Drew Carey Show and Whose Line Is It Anyway? and is located opposite Echo Lake, just beyond the ABC-TV Theater.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

ATTRACTION

Sounds Dangerous - As you enter the dimly lit theater, you'll be instructed to put on the headsets you'll find at your seat. The show then begins with a short video to set up the premise: Drew Carey is an actor working on a pilot television series called Undercover Live, in which the actor wears a hidden camera in his tie. Of course, Carey damages his camera, so that much of the attraction's 12 minutes are in complete darkness. The sounds, however, are vivid and in many cases hair-raising, from the hum of a barber's clippers on the back of your neck to a bunch of angry bees buzzing in your ears. Finally, Carey bungles his way to successfully solving the crime, video is restored and you are free to exit the theater and explore the Sound Works.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Sound Works -- A hands-on area where guests can experiment with various sound effects, including creating their own sound track for different videos, such as a space battle. There are also darkened sound booths in which visitors can listen to high-quality sounds, similar in nature to the Sounds Dangerous show. Sound Works can be entered directly from the street as well as from the Sounds Dangerous theater.

Disney Radio Studios -- To the left of Sounds Dangerous, tucked away in a quiet little corner, are the working Disney Radio Studios. In addition to allowing local stations to visit, the studio broadcasts the popular Radio Disney weekday show “Mickey and Minnie’s Tune Time” starring B. B. Good, as well as the nationally syndicated “Super Gold with Mike Harvey.” Although the studios aren't open to the public at large, occasionally cast members come out to talk with passers-by, and sometimes even allow folks to peer inside for a quick look around.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

INTERESTING FACTS

To help achieve the full, 3-D sound in this show, Drew Carey wore small microphones in his ears while filming.

Watch for actress/performance artist Ann Magnuson as the director of the Undercover Live! TV show.

Sounds Dangerous replaced the short-lived One Saturday Morning sound show. That in turn had replaced the Monster Sound Show, which featured a short film with comedians Martin Short and Chevy Chase.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Star Tours' final flights to Endor will be on September 7, 2010. After that the attraction will close for an extensive rehab. The new story for the ride will be set in the period between Star Wars Episode 3 and Episode 4. In addition to pod races on Tatooine, there will be a flight through Coruscant, though it isn't clear if these would be two separate tours, or somehow included in the same tour. The attraction is expected to open in May 2011.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

INTRODUCTION
Presented by Energizer, this popular flight simulator ride was inspired by the original Star Wars movie trilogy. It's situated on the far side of Disney's Hollywood Studios, beyond Echo Lake, and features R2D2 and C3PO, as well as other familiar Star Wars scenes and characters. Star Tours sends you to the Moon of Endor on anything but a smooth flight!

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Queue/Pre-Show: The amount of detail in this attraction's queue makes it an attraction in itself! The outside queue winds around an Ewok village (you can even hear Ewoks chanting at night), eventually leading you under the enormous AT-AT walker standing guard at the entrance. Once inside, the premise is that you are walking through the hangar area of the intergalactic travel agency "Star Tours." You'll see familiar characters from the Star Wars films like C3PO and R2D2, while small droids are transported on conveyors, and still other droids perform equipment maintenance under the watchful eye of Admiral Ackbar and friend. You're directed to your transport area, and a few minutes before you board your starspeeder to Endor, a brief but entertaining video on overhead monitors describes the loading procedure and upcoming flight.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Star Tours: Designed by teams from both Disney and George Lucas, your 40-seat flight simulator combines with an action-packed video to send you soaring into hyperspace. Your pilot RX-24, or Captain Rex, a droid on his first solo flight, isn't yet used to his programming, which means that you and the other passengers are treated to more than a bumpy flight in an out-of-control starspeeder! Although the ride lasts only roughly (and we do mean roughly) 10 minutes, you travel past comets and icy asteroids, dodge Imperial fighters, get caught in a Star Destroyer's tractor beam, zoom through the trench of the Death Star, and help to vanquish the evil Empire, all before nearly crash-landing back home in the hangar bay.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

INTERESTING FACTS

Star Tours opened in Walt Disney World on December 15, 1989.

The flight simulator used in the StarSpeeder 3000 is the same used by the military to train pilots.

At the end of the film, as your transport comes to a standstill, there is an actor in a control booth that resembles Star Wars creator George Lucas -- but in fact it is just a look-alike.

Paul Reubens, best-known as comedian Pee Wee Herman, is believed to voice the droid pilot Rex.

The Star Tours film was made by Lucas' special effects company, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM). The work crews shown in the docking bays and control rooms of the film are supposedly members of the ILM model shop staff.

The boxes circulating over you in the second queue area are all stencilled with letters and numbers, such as "PAD 61257" and "KMS 81850". These stand for the initials and birthdates of Imagineers who worked on the attraction.

While waiting in line at Star Tours, there are several humorous pages announced: 1) one page is for "Egroeg Sacul", which is "George Lucas" spelled backwards; 2) another page is for Mr. Tom Morrow, a pun on the word "tomorrow," which is also used several other places in Disney parks. (For example, on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority in the Magic Kingdom, a feminine voice pages Tom Morrow as you leave the Carousel of Progress area.); 3) a final page calling, "Will the owner of the speeder with the license number THX 1138 please move their vehicle, you are in a no hover zone." THX 1138 is significant in that it's the name of the first movie that George Lucas ever made.

Star Wars fans will recognize the line "I've got a bad feeling about this," uttered by Rex at the beginning of the flight. This line has been used in all 4 of the Star Wars films by various characters as part of a running
gag.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Walt Disney World guests are now donning 3-D glasses, entering a wild and wooly 4-D world of Woody, Buzz and other favorite "Toy Story" characters, and aiming to have high-scoring fun in Toy Story Mania! at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. As part of Disney’s "Year of a Million Dreams," the attraction will also debut on the West Coast, with a scheduled opening in Disney's California Adventure at Disneyland Resort June 17.

Inspired by the Disney-Pixar films "Toy Story" and "Toy Story II," Toy Story Mania! raises the bar for interactive ride-game attractions. It's a high-energy, immersive adventure that puts guests right in the action as their game play triggers fun surprises that provide a fourth dimension of fun. Toy Story Mania! engages guests in a whole new way with the delightful characters of the films.

Upon entering the attraction, guests will be welcomed by Mr. Potato Head, more than five feet tall and looking like he stepped right down from the movie screen. The state-of-the-art Audio-Animatronics Mr. Potato Head makes a perfect carnival barker, capable of engaging guests in two-way conversation and encouraging them to "step right up" for the immersive Toy Story Mania! experience.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Everyone gets a front row seat when guests put on their 3-D glasses, "shrink" to the size of a toy and board Toy Story Mania! carnival tram ride vehicles which add a huge amount of fun to the interactive experience. The exciting and colorful route takes guests through "Andy's Bedroom" filled with oversized murals and toys. The vehicles angle to face Toy Story Mania! game booths -- high-tech yet rooted in classic midway games of skill -- and guests aim for 3-D animated targets using their own on-board spring-action shooters. Players pair up and sit side-by-side for a friendly competition that delivers an ever-changing variety of targets and surprises.

As they play, guests can actually see the "virtual" objects they've launched leave their spring-action shooters and hit (or miss) the targets. And thanks to 4-D special effects technology, they may sense objects whirring past them as they pop out of the 3-D scenes.

The Toy Story Mania! games -- five of them, plus an introductory practice round -- are designed to be enjoyed by audiences of all ages and skills, from beginners to experienced gamers. Play is energized by the spirit of the "Toy Story" characters cast in games that best suit their very animated personalities.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

First comes the "Pie Throw Practice" round in which guests can try splattering targets with virtual pies.

Next, Hamm hosts a "Hamm & Eggs" booth in which players launch plastic virtual eggs at various barnyard targets.

"Bo Peep's Baaa-loon Pop" presents a landscape full of balloon sheep, trees and other objects at which guests can launch virtual darts. But players had better be careful! A popped virtual water balloon might add an additional 4-D wet dimension to the game.

From there it's on to "Green Army Men Shoot Camp" where the challenge is to break plates with virtual baseballs.

Next up is "Buzz Lightyear's Flying Tossers," a ring-toss game hosted by everyone's favorite space ranger, with Little Green Aliens as the targets.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

For the grand finale game, Toy Story Mania! players ride through Wild West scenes launching virtual suction-cup darts at targets in "Woody's Rootin' Tootin' Shootin' Gallery." A final "Woody's Bonus Roundup" encourages guests to fire their spring-action shooters as rapidly as possible at one last super-target for extra points. When scores are tallied, players' skill levels are identified and they can see how they've done compared to the high scores.

The game play of Toy Story Mania! is accompanied by creative musical variations of Randy Newman's "You've Got A Friend in Me," arranged by veteran music editor Bruno Coon, a frequent Newman collaborator, to compliment the games -- for example, a military brass band version for "Green Army Men Shoot Camp."

No matter how many times guests return to ride and play, they can be sure every ride-through will seem different.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

TOURING TIPS


* In each of the Toy Story Mania! games, there is at least one "Easter Egg" -- targets that can trigger the appearance of bonus high-value targets and other changes in the scene.

* Watch for loose change in the prize scene -- Hamm is carrying more than $6 in coins when his cork pops.

* Because of the indoor nature of the attraction and to keep the guest experience fun for all, flash photography or video is not allowed on Toy Story Mania!

* Everyone can play! There is no height or age restriction for guests to experience Toy Story Mania!

* Actual ride time aboard Toy Story Midway Mania! is a full five minutes.

* Ready, aim, fire! Players have 30 seconds in each game play area to score points.

* Toy Story Mania! utilizes Disney's FASTPASS, a return voucher offering little or no waiting time at select attractions. Single riders also have their own queuing option for Toy Story Mania!

 

[AmandaSparks730]

The attraction has customized cars for special needs riders. Reader Beth Floro notes: The back of the vehicle folds into a ramp -- 2/3 of the seat rolls out so that a wheelchair or power chair can go in (no scooters - too heavy). The padded lap bar is replaced with a different one, and a seat belt is added. The gun has both the regular pull-string AND a button on top (for those who can't pull a string). The button fires MUCH faster than the pull string. There is a button on all cars to turn on Closed Captioning -- your score screen will show the ride audio (but you won't see it because you're shooting stuff!). The downside? It takes a long time to convert the special car. In my opinion, they should stop using these (there are two) for regular seating and keep them "open" for wheelchairs -- I believe there will be enough wheel traffic to keep them in use. Here are a few photos of the wheelchair loading area:

 

[AmandaSparks730]

INTERESTING FACTS


* Each ride vehicle weighs as much as 8,580 Woody dolls.
* It would take 5,026 toy soldiers lined up end-to-end to make up the total track length.
* Toy Story Mania! is the first time that Walt Disney Imagineering is creating an attraction for two Disney Parks simultaneously.
* It has been estimated that, each day, guests may break over one million virtual plates using the spring-action shooters.
* Riders in the Sky, the award winning group that wrote the songs that Mr. Potato Head performs as part of the attraction, is the same group that wrote "Woody's Roundup" for the "Toy Story" feature films.
* This is the first attraction that Walt Disney Imagineering designed where the Imagineers had to wear 3-D glasses to art direct all the black-light paint elements.
* The murals located in the load area at Disney's Hollywood Studios are the biggest murals painted since Epcot was built.
* In order to create a show that responds not only to every pull of a guest's spring-action shooter, but also every move their midway tram makes, there are over 150 computers communicating over multiple networks throughout the attraction.
* At Toy Story Mania! every guest gets to experience life at the size of a toy. So in Andy's room, a 5 foot 6 inch person will feel about 14" tall.
* More time was spent programming Mr. Potato Head than for any other Audio-Animatronics figure ever created by Walt Disney Imagineering.
* Mr. Potato Head will be able to say more lines of dialogue than any Audio-Animatronics figure ever created by Walt Disney Imagineering.
* The Mr. Potato Head Audio-Animatronics figure is the first time that an Audio-Animatronics figure can remove a body part and re-attach it (in the case of his ear).
* The Mr. Potato Head Audio-Animatronics figure has new, highly expressive and animated eyes that can look directly at a particular guest in the queue when speaking to him/her.
* Mr. Potato Head marks the first Audio-Animatronics figure whose mouth appears to form words and vowel sounds.
* Toy Story Mania! is the first time that Woody and Buzz Lightyear (along with some of their friends) from the Disney-Pixar "Toy Story" films appear together in a ride-through attraction.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (Feb. 7, 2008) -- Walt Disney Parks and Resorts will create an "American Idol" attraction that will bring the television and pop culture phenomenon to life at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, it was jointly announced today by Jay Rasulo, chairman of Disney Parks and Resorts; Simon Fuller, CEO of 19 Entertainment; and Keith Hindle, executive vice president of FremantleMedia Licensing.

The attraction, slated to debut in late 2008, will be located at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park and will follow the model of the high-energy show. Disney guests will be able to experience the challenge of auditioning, the rush of performing on stage in competition, or the thrill of judging the performances in a live interactive entertainment setting with all the glitz and glamour of the distinctive "American Idol" set.

That experience will include an audition process, open to all who register, where guests perform "live" in front of a Disney's Hollywood Studios producer to be cast in a theme park show. After backstage preparation -- working with a vocal coach, hair and make-up -- it’s lights up and showtime in front of a “live” audience and a panel of judges.

Guest performers with the highest votes will compete in an end-of-day Grand Finale show at Walt Disney World, and the winner of the Grand Finale show will receive a guaranteed reservation for a future regional stadium audition -- to ensure no waiting in long lines. But when it comes down to the television show auditions, everyone is treated equal.

"Millions of people have imagined themselves standing on the 'American Idol' stage," said Rasulo. "We're excited that we will be bringing this dream to life every day at Walt Disney World."

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Added Fuller, "One of the most remarkable elements about 'American Idol' is that for a brief moment each week, we can provide TV viewers the opportunity to imagine life as America's next superstar. Disney's new attraction perfectly captures what we at 'American Idol' feel is the heart and soul of this brand, real people getting a shot to make their dream a reality."

"This partnership," noted Hindle, "brings the number one show on television, watched in over 100 countries, to the number one theme park destination in the world. It's a perfect combination and opportunity to offer everyone a taste of the 'American Idol' experience."

The coming "American Idol" attraction will reflect the best and brightest of the TV show, giving starry-eyed park guests a chance to become a star on the attraction's stage. It joins an all-star lineup at Disney's Hollywood Studios, a celebration of today's Hollywood in movies, television, music and theater. Among the new adventures debuting in 2008 is the just-opened "Playhouse Disney-Live on Stage!" plus coming attractions "Block Party Bash," an interactive and moving Disney-Pixar spectacle filling the theme park streets; and Toy Story Mania! immersing guests in a 3-D interactive ride-through video game starring popular Disney-Pixar "Toy Story" characters.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

NEW! American Idol Experience Add-Ons!

Ultimate Fan Experience -- You will receive certificates to be redeemed for The American Idol Experience Merchandise Pack, which includes:
--Choice of one (1) select short-sleeved The American Idol Experience Attraction T-shirt
--One (1) The American Idol Experience ID Badge
--One (1) The American Idol Experience Award Statue
--Reserved seating for one person at one of The American Idol Experience attraction shows.
--Price: $49 USD

The Ultimate Backstage Experience -- Includes all the features of the Ultimate Fan Experience plus:
--two-hour behind-the-scenes tour of The American Idol Experience Attraction.
--Tour offered Tuesdays and Saturdays at 1:30 p.m. only. Advance Reservations required.
--Price: $98 USD

How the Add-On Options Work: Purchase a Walt Disney World® vacation package. Add on either the Ultimate Fan Experience or the Ultimate Backstage Experience. The American Idol Experience exchange certificates** will be delivered to your hotel upon check-in.
To add this to your guests package call (407) WDW-IDOL or (407) 939-4365.

Guests must purchase a Walt Disney World® vacation package in order to buy these add-ons.
* American Idol® is a registered trademark of 19 TV Ltd. and FremantleMedia North America, Inc.
** Valid theme park admission required for both add-ons. Exchange certificates are non-transferable and may not be redeemed for cash in whole or in part. Lost, stolen or destroyed certificates will not be replaced. No photocopies or reproductions will be accepted. Certificates Expire: January 15, 2010.