Disney Studios Streetmosphere Tips

I am sure that Studios Central is on your trolling list if you are a WDW fan. The best resource if you want to make sense of this peculiar little park.

For my September trip I really wanted to spend some time with the Streetmosphere characters. The DHS rope drop show is easily the best of the 4 parks. It is well worth getting to the park extra early just to get near the front for a good view. To be picked to be in that little car....

So Matt Hochberg, elegant host of the WDW Today podcast and world renowned speed reader, has come to my rescue. Check out his excellent article about this hidden gem. I know I am going to grab my Diet Coke, find a shady curb, and enjoy the show. And who knows, maybe I will be brave like Matt and get into the mix. Can't be as bad as Dinosaur.

SHRUNKEN NED - JUNGLE WITCH DOCTOR

Shrunken Ned’s Life Extension Formula:
A) Eat only celery for 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, eliminate celery.
B) Give up all bad habits, hobbies, television, friends and forms of amusement.
C) Move to the Aleutian Islands and Sell Refrigerators.
(None of this will make your life longer—it will just seem longer…)

TouringPlans.com Posting

Been that kind of weekend. First I was interviewed for the WDW Today Podcast on Friday talking about WDW arrival experiences. You can find that interview here.

Today, I posted the second part of my walking tour from Liberty Square to Frontierland. That article can be found here on Touringplans.com or just below on my site.

DESIGN: A walk through WDW's Liberty Square through Frontierland - Part 2

Read Part 1 here.

Liberty Square is a carefully designed, fully immersive, urban environment. The staging of the design elements is meant to slow you down and soak up the atmosphere. The high level of detail is necessary because this land reflects the qualities of places that really exist and would be accessible to many of Walt Disney World’s visitors. The challenge for the design team was to create, as described by the Imagineers, an “enhanced reality” that is “better than real”.


This is something the Imagineers learned from the animators. In animation, successful storytelling requires you to find a way to suspend people’s disbelief so they could accept talking animals, puppets, clocks, beasts, etc. Walt Disney discovered that you had to create what he called the “plausible impossible”. One method was using highly detailed backgrounds. These backgrounds helped your imagination to accept that you have entered a real place. Once you have accepted the story’s time and location you could begin to accept whatever action was taking place in the foreground. This is how animators make the impossible possible.


Imagineers use a similar technique in the design phase for a project known as “eyewash”. Eyewash is used when the Imagineers are pitching a new concept and it is carried through to the finished environment. The designers are taught to take their idea to its extreme then illustrate it in such a way that makes it seem realistic. The details turn an idea that seems impossible into something that even the accountants will want built.


The design details of Liberty Square capture that early American spirit and set the stage for the shops and attractions. The setting is an urban experience with narrow streets that wind around the buildings. The buildings help to frame this space and create an outdoor room that is alive with storefronts, restaurants, and rocking chairs. The river adds that fourth wall which creates the coziest land in the Magic Kingdom.


Liberty Square is organized around a strong central element. In this case, the central element is the public square and the Liberty Tree. There are minimal vistas outside of Liberty Square. Only a glimpse of Frontierland can be seen from within the land. This preview of Frontierland is important because it becomes the second act in the Magic Kingdom’s time travel story.


Like a movie, the designers have used a consistent thematic thread that ties the two lands together. Combined, Liberty Square and Frontierland will take you through from the east coast of Colonial America and end some at the close of the American frontier in the late 1880s.


Liberty Square and Frontierland use typological architectural details that provide us clues for our trip through time and geography. In Liberty Square, our trip begins in New York along the banks of the lower Hudson River in the early 1700s. The Haunted Mansion is based on the gothic architecture of the Harry Packer Mansion built in 1874 in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. The brickwork, heavy stone base and cornerstones, are typical of English Tudor buildings. The building is away from the main square and off to the side. Frankly, the Disneyland version seems like a nice suburban house. This one is kind of scary.


And don’t speed past the cemetery at the end. You will miss something special in the upper left hand corner. One of my favorite Disney characters has taken up a permanent home at the Magic Kingdom. At least he is still alive in Disneyland.


The Columbia Harbor House would feel right at home in the port city of Boston in the mid-1700s. It is also the site of a brilliant transition from one land to the next. The upper dining room bridges over the walkway. One side is themed to Fantasyland and the other is all Liberty Square. This effect is used in other places between Adventureland and Frontierland. Keep an eye out for it. You are probably rushing to the restroom when this magic happens.


Leaving the Haunted Mansion, the buildings begin to take on the Georgian style, which was popular in Williamsburg during the late 1700s. In just that short distance we have moved almost 50 years. The Hall of Presidents is modeled after buildings in Philadelphia at the time of the Constitution’s adoption in 1787. This structure is the centerpiece to the land. Everything else supports this structure. The Liberty Tree helps to soften the public square that is frame by the Hall, the shops, the loading dock for the Liberty Belle, and most importantly, the Rivers of America and the island representing the endless western frontier and the end to our first act.


Liberty Square is not merely a reproduction of a colonial village. It is way too clean. But it has an urban complexity that doesn’t really exist elsewhere in the Magic Kingdom. Much like New Orleans Square at Disneyland (which it is modeled after) it uses its design elements, compact design, winding pathways, blend of hardscapes and supporting plant materials to create the sensation of being in another time and place.


Speaking of Disneyland, Liberty Square was first thought of as an offshoot of Main Street USA. On the earliest park souvenir map drawn by Sam McKim, is an area called Liberty Street. In the space where the parade exists in Town Square plus the lonely wooden structure between the Opera House and the stores has long been the entrance to another land. At first it was International Street – the precursor to the World Showcase at Epcot. In 1958 that concept was put back into the draw and flipped to Liberty Street. Another example of how Imagineers never let a good idea really die.


The building that bridges the divide between the two lands is the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon. The western migration had a natural border – the Mississippi River. At the water’s edge was the mighty city of St. Louis. In the 1820s, this type of building would have been typical. It is from here we begin our second act in this historical epic.


Next week we continue along that strip mall we like to call Frontierland.

PODCAST: Friday's WDW Guest

For third time I have been privileged to be a guest on WDW Today. This show is my three-times a week habit. I am talking about the arrival experience for the 4 WDW parks. This is always a treat and I hope you check it out. If you like what you hear let Matt, Mike, Mike, and Len know.

Thanks

RIP Captain EO

Sad to learn the news today of Michael Jackson's passing. To the man who truly enjoyed his Disney hobby...Cheers!

SURPRISE: Two Brothers

Sometimes a copy will do just fine. For the Frontierland station this has been its case its entire life. The original station was a set for the movie "So Dear to My Heart". After filming, that building ended up at animator Ward Kimball's house in San Gabriel. A copy was made and for many years functioned as the Frontierland Station. The station building was moved across the tracks when New Orleans Square was completed. The station even makes a cameo in the Two Brothers segment in The American Adventure show at Epcot.

Such a classic design even the Toons were inspired for their station.

DISNEYLAND V. WDW: The Mountains

MATTERHORN BOBSLEDS V. EXPEDITION EVEREST

Okay I know what you are thinking. The other comparison articles are true apples to apples comparisons. Same theme, different execution. But what does the Matterhorn and Everest have in common? Well…

Both are based on real world locations –

· Expedition Everest is set in the Himalayas. It features the fictional Forbidden Mountain, which is the tallest peak and in the background is Mount Everest.

· The Matterhorn Bobsleds are set in a 1/100^th scale model of the real thing in Switzerland. The attraction was inspired by the Disney movie Third Man on the Mountain. The original concept was to have a real bobsled ride on ice. Wisely, they came up with a different solution…

Both pushed the state-of-the-art of roller coaster technology –

· Expedition Everest is the tallest mountain in the state of Florida. It features a lift hill with a new safety mechanism that doesn’t clank the entire way up; the thrill of going backwards in the dark, and the largest Audio-Animatronics that Disney has developed.

· The Matterhorn Bobsleds was the first steel tube coaster. Every steel coaster can trace its roots back to the Matterhorn. The mountain was multi-functional. It also contained a tower for the skyway. Yes, once upon a time you could float through the middle on your way from Fantasyland to Tomorrowland and the return trip. It was even one of the tallest structures in Orange County for many years.

Both have inhabitants –

· Expedition Everest has the Yeti. He even gets his own museum.

· The Matterhorn has Harold, the abominable snowman. Both characters don’t move and use a strobe to create an animated effect as you zoom by. Now sadly, the Yeti costs millions of dollars and has the physical force of a 747 jet but rumor has it that he seems to have broken his foundation and has not worked on a regular basis for years. If you got the chance to see him working you would be amazed.

Finally, both were seen as more than just another new attraction –

· When the Animal Kingdom first opened, many complained there wasn’t enough to do. Some still do. So WDI needed to come up with something that would become one of the park’s signature attractions. Only Kilimanjaro Safaris had the cache to motivate people to get out of bed early in the morning and to visit the park. Expedition Everest was the answer and has been a successful addition.

· The Matterhorn was the centerpiece of what many considered Disneyland’s second Grand Opening. In one day, on a live television, the opening of the Matterhorn Bobsleds, the Monorail, the Submarine Voyage, the Motor Boat Cruise (!), and an expanded Autopia. ABC broadcast Disneyland ’59 on June 15, 1959 and it is an amazing artifact of this historic day. This show is available on Walt Disney Treasures Your Host Walt Disney DVD.

DISNEYLAND:

The Matterhorn is the mother of all steel rollercoasters. For that reason alone we should all look to its peak and bow in respect. The fact it’s inspiration was the need to cover up the unattractive tower that held up the Skyway always impressed me. And it sits on the dirt from the moat in front of the castle. I understand back in the day before it was built, the dirt mound was quite the make out place for those horny 50s teenagers.

The entire set up is just perfect. Most people don’t even notice the little forest out front along Matterhorn way. The themed benches, the little sheds covering the final part of the queue, the queue itself. Pretty clever having you wait along side of the mountain. When the tried to bunch people up in front it was miserable.

The cars have their own special charm. Fun to ride if you want to get to know somebody better. Painful if the combination isn’t right. Of course, everybody has his or her preference to sides. The Tomorrowland side is tighter and features the only real drop on the ride. The Fantasyland is swoopier with faster long curves. Both feature close encounters with Harold, the Abominable Snowman. His growl in the dark at the beginning of the Fantasyland side is the scariest thing. A great ride during the day but better at night.

Favorite feature is when you are racing another sled. The mountain has gone through a lot of changes over the years. I am as old as the Matterhorn and I understand.

And that is not the Governor of California giving the safety spiel at the beginning of the ride.

WDW:

I was at the Animal Kingdom in May 2006. Everest was open only for a month. What a beautiful sight to behold. Now this is an E-Ticket. It tells an original story. It is loaded with details. You really sense that magic as you approach – that moment when your apprehension turns to awe and delight. I was very impressed. So like many others I quickly moved to grab my Fastpass and to take what was to become the first of 12 rides on that trip.

Of course the entire setting is pitch perfect. The use of the buildings to frame a small courtyard off of the main path, the clever way they have created an ideal viewing area for those who are not able to ride, and sense of overall calm with the occasional screams coming from the coaster.

As you know, the queue is simply one of the best ever. Walk into the first building and make your reservation for the Tea Train then tap a bell at the temple. You go inside and out, disorienting you from the main path. By the time you enter the camping supply store you have bought the concept. The museum just seals the deal. They build a case for the Yeti then demonstrate how he is real. If you are not excited by the time you have entered the long room with the windows facing the loading dock then something is wrong.

As the train pulled into the station, the tweet from the whistle and the burst of steam belching from the rear just confirmed that I have left Florida and was someplace else. A real steam train! (I know I know). The plantings were all new but you got to love that little stroll through the foothills. Today, when I ride I have noticed how lush so quickly the area has become.

As you go up the lift, through the temple, over the crest you dip into a blanket of fog. Yes, fog. Refreshing cool fog. You don’t even notice the tunnel that goes up and comes to an abrupt end. Okay, the hawk flying along side of the mountain was a bit cheesy and the backwards tumble remains a very unusual sensation.

Finally there is the Yeti. Wow. I have seen Harold at the Matterhorn hundreds of times. This guy was very impressive. He tried to grab my head! I was hooked. I rode the front row the first time and the back car the next time. That puff of steam made the experience more real. I mixed it up for my dozen trips on that day. I even rode the coaster at night. At night it is virtually dark the entire way. Absolutely the best time to ride Everest is at night. Back in May 2006. When the Yeti moved and there was fog and steam and the hawk. And everything worked. It was wonderful

When Everest is working and you get the entire show it would top virtually any Disney ride list. But for now...

WINNER: The Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland

ShRUNKEN NED - JUNGLE WITCH DOCTOR

SHRUNKEN NED’S PRESCRIPTIONS FOR YOU – “Boil one eye of newt, sprinkle on a thick paste of Yak fur, spread on saltine crackers and take twice a day until you get better (or your Yak runs out of fur).”

This Week on SamLand

Just posted the next DESIGN series - Liberty Square to Frontierland - on TouringPlans.com. You can find it here. This is the same article you see below.

Exclusive to the site this week is more advice from Shrunken Ned, the battle between the Matterhorn and Expedition Everest, and a look at two things at Disneyland very closely related that you may have never noticed before.

Welcome and thank you for visiting.

DESIGN: A walk through WDW's Liberty Square through Frontierland - Part 1

From LIBERTY SQUARE to FRONTIERLAND – Part 1

There is just no way around it. I can’t talk about what is going on with Liberty Square without talking about Frontierland. Both lands share the same organizing principle, as this series will highlight. Both lands are adjacent to the Rivers of America and use that asset to enhance the story. These land combine to become the Magic Kingdom’s time machine.

This is one of my favorite things about the Magic Kingdom - how Liberty Square and Frontierland work together to project upon the environment the history of the American western migration. Pretty deep, eh? Let’s step into that time machine and see how the designers pulled off this clever bit of urban design.

It might help for you to get into the right frame of mind for this article. If you are like me when you visit the Magic Kingdom, you like to imagine that you are walking onto a three-dimensional movie set that is the stage for your own personal film. Each land is designed to inspire you by contributing the key movie theme that can be the foundation for your experience.

In the Magic Kingdom you have the choice to enter a world of fantasy and childhood delights or go on an exotic foreign adventure. You can blast into a sci-fi future or visit the unreal world of the toons. But this journey will be a time travel story and we are about to take a step back in time.

When planning an urban environment you have to start with something. You need to pay attention to the centers that already exist. By this I mean that special quality that sometimes is hard to name but you know in your heart and head exists. The best urban environments have this quality and a theme park is certainly an urban environment.

For Frontierland and Liberty Square that center was purposefully created and is the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island. This band of green space defines the edges for both lands in subtly different ways. The river also becomes the connection between the different lands and provides the necessary continuity. But I am getting ahead of myself.

We are going to start this journey from the Hub. As you know, adjacent to the Hub is Liberty Square, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland and Adventureland. Liberty Square, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland feature similar arrival elements consisting of a strong gateway and a feature that is moving off in the distance. That moving feature is the proverbial “wienie” and is meant to draw you into the land.

Frontierland is not adjacent to the Hub like it is at Disneyland and Adventureland doesn’t have the “wienie” feature. Why? It wouldn’t be an adventure if you knew what was beyond the gates, right?

Imagine you are standing next to the Partners statue and facing due west. We are going to walk that direction. You will see how the time machine effect starts even before your feet touch the wooden bridge. In the movies the editor will use a technique called a cross-dissolve to transition from one scene to another. There are physical versions of cross-dissolves throughout the Magic Kingdom and this is how you can spot them.

The designers have used paving materials as one way to create that smooth transition. As you walk from the Hub to Liberty Square, notice how the smooth pavement turns to brick and then wood as you cross over the bridge. This subtle transformation helps to plant the seed that you are entering a different time and place. Going from Main Street USA to Liberty Square means you have to turn back the clock 150 years from small town America during the early 1900s to the east coast at the time of the founding of the nation.

As with everything you are about to see, even this bridge is loaded with meaning. Nothing is there by accident. The bridge was meant to be a copy of the Concord Bridge AKA the Old North Bridge where the Colonials faced off with the British in 1775. The moment when our nation change is the start of our journey through America’s past.

Once through the brick gates the main element is the public square. The Square is framed by the iconic buildings, the boathouse, and the splash of green just off into the distance from Tom Sawyer Island. That public square is the center and focus of the entire land just like how the space would have functioned in Colonial days. The Liberty Tree balances the large Hall of President’s building and softens the space. That tree is one of the largest trees ever transplanted at Walt Disney World.

To embellish and enhance that special place, additional little areas are carved out behind the main buildings. No other land at the Magic Kingdom provides these types of discoverable spaces. These new centers in turn make each other special and that creates an urban landscape that is rewarding, functional, and memorable. It is one of the reasons New Orleans Square in Disneyland is so well loved.

The river is more than just a backdrop that frames one side of the outdoor room known as the public square. Its real magic is how it is used as the thread that moves the back-story along. And that back-story is nothing less than the quintessential time trip from colonial days through the American western migration.

Next week we will cross that bridge and explore what is on the other side.

A MOMENT WITH WALT DISNEY

"When I started on Disneyland, my wife used to say, “But why do you want to build an amusement park? They’re so dirty.” I told her that was just the point – mine wouldn’t be."

DISNEY ARTICLES I LIKE

Like many of you, I am always surfing the web for things about the parks and finding good stuff to read. On occasion I will highlight what is tickling my fancy.

I think Kevin Yee's take on D23 is similar to my own. I thought the rollout of the tours was a miserable experience and I would hope that somebody put up a banner that states "Remember Light Magic!". It won't take too many of these screw-ups before your most loyal fans start to turn on you. The power and the punishment of viral marketing

http://miceage.micechat.com/kevinyee/ky061809a.htm

I am visiting the World in late September and have finally chosen my dining experiences in anticipation of my 90 day mark. The folks over at Touringplans.com have a terrific article on the new online reservation system. A must read if you are planning a trip. My favorite thing with the updated Disney site is the download of the actual menus with graphics and everything.

http://blog.touringplans.com/2009/06/17/disney-online-adr-faq/

SURPRISE: The Last Laugh at the Haunted Mansion

The next time you are exiting the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland, take a second and you will notice how the spirits ultimately get the last laugh. The Imagineers rediscovered this original detail a few years ago during one of the rehabs. An appropriate finale for one of the greatest attractions ever.

Oh yeah. You can also hear this laugh in one other place within the attraction...

...Anybody?

DISNEYLAND V. WDW: Snow White

DISNEYLAND:

Think about what it takes to design a dark ride. This ancient form of amusement park entertainment gives you a limited amount of time to do something that will make you feel like you didn’t get ripped off. One solution would be to paint broad-brush strokes so that people experience a simple story. Another would be to limit yourself by ignoring any story and use special effects to set a mood.

But Walt knew you had to have both and the secret was to add enough details to keep them coming back again and again. Snow White’s Scary Adventure is an excellent example of layering on the story within a wonderful atmosphere. It is a true Disney classic attraction in both parks.

In California, they call this Snow White’s Scary Adventure for a reason. This is not the happy flight in a ship high above the action like Peter Pan. You are going down into the mine and the dungeon. You will be chased throughout the ride by a truly evil character. She will tempt you with apples (some have been so tempted they have escaped with souvenirs). You will have scary trees reaching out at. Scary stuff.

So let’s take the kids, right? It is Fantasyland after all. The Imagineers have thankfully provided pre-show elements that give you a taste of what lies inside those dark stonewalls. Parents be warned.

The Gothic façade is an early clue that this is a scary adventure. As you approach the arch look up at the window above. Be patient. Sometimes the Evil Queen is looking. Walk toward the golden apple and book. I’ve got to touch them every time I pass by. Touch the apple and the witch laughs. Wait a second and then touch again. That was a scary noise! Better to move on.

Just beyond the entrance is a little room with a spell book and, just beyond a door, is a silhouette of a Raven moving about. Scary lights and sounds add to the tension. This is meant to scare your kids. If they fail this test then they are not going to be happy inside. It is pretty easy to turn around and walk over to Peter Pan.

So hop into your mining car for a brief happy visit with Snow White and Dwarfs. Until all Hell breaks loose. And then suddenly it ends. Witch dead (sorry gave it away). There is a picture of the Prince and Snow White riding away, happily ever after. Very abrupt.

Okay good trivia while you are waiting in line. When the attraction debuted, it was designed so you were Snow White. The attraction was designed as a first person experience. Virtual reality if you please. However, people didn’t get it and they finally shoehorned Snow White into the attraction.

WDW:

The front façade of the Magic Kingdom’s Snow White still retains the tournament style tents that were an update to the original 1955-era Sleep Beauty inspired Disneyland courtyard. To ride Snow White you pop under the happy tent and enjoy the wide-open entrance. Like everything else about Walt Disney World, they had space and this time they knew what to do with it.

The attraction is a much richer cinematic-like experience than the one at Disneyland. Like a movie, you start with a long shot of the countryside, which provides a setting and context. Turn the corner and there is a mid-shot of Snow White just being adorable as she ushers us through the doors. From that point on we see the whole story. The good times and the bad times and the good times again. The story gets a chance to fully resolve itself and the happily ever after doesn’t feel like it was stuck on.

Florida’s version certainly isn’t as dark as Anaheim’s. The size of the sets makes a big difference. The extra 25% or so of track length really helps. Both versions have stood the test of time are still relevant today. But if I were pressed to pick a favorite I would pick…

WINNER: WDW Magic Kingdom