The Ups and Downs of Being a Disneyland Insider

The Disneyland Traveler is not a Disneyland insider or prognosticator nor do I claim to be in any way, shape, or form. I live far too away to from the park to have any sort inside knowledge from word on the street. But I do follow those that are considered park insiders and prognosticators with my main source being MiceAge's Al Lutz, an insider that even other media sources go to when they want the Disneyland inside scoop. Al is more often right than wrong with his crystal ball but over the last month or so, he has missed a few.

So Al did say (and I posted about it) that Thunder Mountain Railroad would close next month for a year long refurbishment (give or take). That does not turn out to be the case as reported by David Koenig who frequently contributes to the much smaller Disney website MousePlanet when compared to Al's MiceAge/MiceChat. Koenig appears to have the correct information when he reported that BTMRR will close down just after the first of the year for its lengthy refurbishment with Indiana Jones closing this fall for a major overhaul - something that Al missed completely.

Then there is that rampant Tomorrrowland speculation. Oh yes, something will be done. Al reported that Disney was eyeing the area that included Red Rocket's Pizza Port, the Innoventions building, Autopia, the remnants of the People Movier, and even Finding Nemo's Submarine Voyage as targets of demolition / renovation in a Tomorrowland makeover. Things are coming out now (with comments made by Tony Baxter and others) that this isn't really going to be the case - with the likely targets just being just the Innoventions building and the adjacent Pizza Port and Autopia queue line along with taking down what's left of the deteriorating People Mover.

What happens in Tomorroland is shear speculation at this point but something will definitely be known over the next year or so. They have to have something to talk about at next year's D23 Expo. But Al's prediction of ripping out the subs seems to be really Blue Sky territory, especially with a Pixar Finding Nemo sequel movie now in the pre-pre-production stage.

So Al may have missed a few. He has been very quiet this week in his comments, seemingly keeping a low profile. But Al Lutz is always Disneyland "must" reading because he really does have the pulse of the place. I'm sure his sources are giving him their version of the inside scoop but as always, Disney has a right to change their collective minds.

Taking The Hammer To Innoventions

Hmm......I went through my Disneyland photo collection this morning looking for an exterior shot of the massive Innoventions building in Tomorrowland. Guess what? Ten years of digital of photos and not one exterior shot of the Innoventions building. That should tell you something. In all of the Disneyland trips that we've made over ten years (which adds up to about 15 trips with each trip being several days long), can you guess how many times Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and I have been in Innoventions? Twice - that's it. Our last visit to Innoventions was in December 2008. On that day, there was an all-day driving rainstorm. It doesn't rain in Innoventions. So that's what the place is reduced to - a refuge to get out of the rain.

Disneyland insider/watchdog Al Lutz from MiceAge/MiceChat again writes last week that Innoventions days may be numbered. With Disneyland's 60th anniversary coming up, it would be nice to have a brand spanking new big-time attraction to feature in the celebration. Once again, the massive but poorly attended Innoventions is a prime target for real estate.  Al has further speculated that the adjoining Autopia and Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage might close with it creating a substantial piece of real estate for big-time development. 

Now the internet rumors are running wild with this. Level Innoventions to the ground and start from scratch or gut the thing and make use of the cavernous space that is inside. I don't know which is true, if anything (there are other places that can be developed in Disneyland beginning with the Festival Arena area in Frontierland) but I, for one wouldn't mind seeing the waste of space that is Innoventions get brought to the ground.

At one time, several years ago, on a Disney forum that no longer exists, I proposed the idea that the loathsome Innoventions could be assisted in its demise by Disneyland providing a couple of swings of a heavy mallet on one of Innoventions walls by fans who want to see the place leveled. They could charge $10 for 3 swings and after you take your whack, you could walk over and pick up a T-Shirt with a picture of Mickey swinging a mallet with some cleaver saying about giving you credit for participating in the destruction. T-Shirt, about $23.95.  It's the Disney way.

That's all a joke up there but Innoventions itself is a joke, an effort in shameless self-promotion by Yamaha, Microsoft, Honda, and HP who pay Disney handsomely for showing off some of their efforts. The only thing, and I mean the only thing, in Innoventions that adds any real value to Disneyland, is the short program that shows off the considerable talents of ASIMO, Honda's amazing robot with a creepy child-like voice.

I don't know if anyone will shed a tear if Innoventions is removed and promptly.  The tears were shed when the Carousel of Progress and America Sings attractions were taken out of the building years ago.

Is It The Beginning Of The End For Nemo's Subs?

I remember the original Tomorrowland Submarine Voyage or whatever they called it. As a kid, it was one of the coolest things ever. The TV series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was one of my favorite shows on television growing up. My brother and I watched it religiously on Sunday nights. A trip to Disneyland and a chance to go on a real sub? Wow! How great is that. We'll ignore the facts that the subs, while looking like the real deal on a miniature scale decked out in official Navy gray, never actually went underwater, ran on a track, and well, there just wasn't a lot very interesting to look at down there through those port holes. The ride was still cool. A kid can pretend.

The old subs grew tiresome and the underwater scenes grew faded and in disrepair. Even the kid in me knew the subs were going down as the ride and me both grew older. By the end of their existence, the slow loading ride was pretty much a walk on and its only real interest was generated from the nostalgia aspect of the subs. Time killed the old submarine ride.

Finding Nemo still is Pixar's second highest grossing movie. I wasn't a particular fan of the movie but many were and Disney saw this as an opportunity to resurrect the old subs into a fancy new attraction based on the Finding Nemo movie. Kind of a win / win for Disney since the basic infrastructure of the ride still existed - subs, track, lagoon, and show building. Never mind that the ride was physically still in Tomorrowland and Finding Nemo has absolutely nothing to do with the world of Tomorrow. An opportunity to cash in is an opportunity to cash in for Disney. Up came Finding Nemo's Submarine Voyage back in 2007 and cool got replaced by cartoon. Gray Navy subs were now painted bright yellow, and digital animation projections told the Nemo story. People came, lines formed, Nemo was a hit and continues to be a very popular attraction with typical wait times into the 30 - 60 minute range. No way I'm waiting that long for it but people do (I much prefer the 7 minute wait I had in a driving rain storm a few years back).

So MiceAge's great Disneyland prophet, fortune teller, and rumor monger Al Lutz reports this week that with the success with the DCA expansion, Disney people are now turning their attention back to Disneyland itself and specifically Tomorrowland with its now patch work quilt of rides and attractions, popular for sure, but far from being anything remotely resembling a cohesively themed area. Everyone knows that Innoventions has got to go. A cavernous building that is sparsely attended tends to be a waste in a park that is real estate challenged. Forum posters have always had a bulls-eye on the adjoining Autopia ride as well since most forum posters know how to drive and have little interest in the ride ignoring the huge line of kids (and their parents) who can't wait to get behind the wheel of their first car. Knock out Innoventions and Autopia and all of a sudden, Disney imagineers now have a huge chunk of land to play with. But why stop there? 

According to Al, and he is right about a lot things, why not throw in the Nemo subs as a potential target of renovation, after all a large portion of Autopia runs over the top of the Nemo show building. It came as news to me that Nemo's Submarine Voyage is Disneyland's costliest ride to operate according to Al and expensive slow loading rides that occupy large chunks of land would seem to be a prime target to me as well. So with Innoventions, Autopia, and Nemo all the target of bulldozing, Disney park developers can get almost 20% of the real estate back into their creative hands and a real chance to set Tomorrowland straight once and for all.

This isn't going to happen anytime soon. Disney needs to see if the remarkable attendance for Disney California Adventure that has been occuring the past two weeks is sustainable before they get into any new billion dollar projects but all pointers seem to lead that something big is going to happen.

I'm good with the removal of Innoventions. It doesn't have a lot of supporters though ASIMO is a first rate minor attraction. I'm good with the submarine removal. I just don't care for the ride and real submarines haven't looked like the miniature Disneyland replicas in decades. And I'm good with removing Autopia because I know how to drive though an updated Autopia attraction in Cars Land would be a sensational idea. 

This is an rumor that has legs as they say and it may take several years to get it done but it seems like it would be time and money well spend, at least to me.

DHI Remembers Tomorrowland's Flying Saucers Ride

Cars Land's Luigi's Flying Tires is getting punished around the internet world. There are some who like the ride, but most find it slow and boring (those that can actually get the tires to move a bit that is). The other complaint is that the queue line moves extremely slow because of low ride capacity.

With that in mind, the Disney History Institute has just posted an excellent video giving us a look at the original Flying Saucers attraction in Tomorrowland that had a brief lifespan back in the early 60's. The ride was eventually shut down because of low capacity, constant breakdowns and a large staff to support its operation and maintenance. Luigi? Take a look in the mirror.

I Prefer My Monorails To Not Have Faces - Thank You

There are few moving vehicles on earth as cool looking as a Disneyland Mark VII monorail. There were rumors going around that they would "wrap" one of them to promote the opening of Cars Land similar to what was done with a Disney World monorail promoting the Avengers and TRON:Legacy movies. Since those monorails are an older generation and 3000 miles away, I didn't really care. But please leave the beautiful Mark VII's alone.

Well not quite. They didn't give the Disneyland monorails a complete wrap job but they did give all 3 of them a face. A face..... ugh! I don't like it but I'm also not around to really be bothered by it. But still, cool became silly. I would expect the smiling faces to be around through the summer as crowds pack Cars Land but hopefully by the time I make my next trip to Disneyland someone will have wiped that silly smile clean off and order has been restored to the universe.

Disneyland's Tomorrowland - Reaching for ... Futility

"A vista into a world of wondrous ideas, signifying man's achievements.... A step into the future with predictions of constructive things to come. Tomorrow offers new frontiers in science, adventure, and ideals, the atomic age, the challenge of outer space and the hope for a peaceful and unified world."

Walt Disney's Dedication of Tomorrowland - July 17, 1955

The world was much different when Walt Disney dedicated Tomorrowland in 1955 than it is today.  There really was a world of tomorrow in space exploration, earth exploration, science, and technology.  The future was as big as imagination would allow it to be. But it's 2012 and Walt Disney has been dead for 45 years or so. The future is still unknown in the big picture of it all but in today's world things change rapidly, too rapidly for anyone to keep up let alone a theme park. The Dell notebook computer I am typing this blog entry on right now is probably a year a old and was outdated by the time I got it out of the box. Everyone has a cell phone but its lifespan is about as long as it take to learn how to use it. Manned space travel is coming to an end probably because someone figured out "wow! this is expensive". The deepest trenches of the oceans have been explored and for the most part it's been discovered that it is cold, dark, and kind of boring down there. Advances in medicine and science occur so fast that it boggles the mind and unfortunately the driving force may be said to be for the betterment of mankind but often its "there's a lot of money to be made in this stuff".

For years, Disneyland was able to fit Walt's dreams and vision of a land of Tomorrow with it rides and attractions. But everyone knows for the last couple of decades Disneyland's Tomorrowland has deteriorated into a mish-mashed collection of rides and attractions, most having nothing to do with tomorrow at all.

Stand on the upper of level of the Innoventions building and survey the Tommorland landscape. To the left is what most people feel is Tomorrowland's best attraction, Space Mountain, an imaginative ride not based on a movie (what a concept!). It's great but here we go. Off to the right is Autopia, still a great ride for kids and a popular one, but it has nothing to do with tomorrow other than kids actually do grow up and drive cars in their futures. Next to it is Finding Nemo's Submarine Voyage. The subs WERE great once upon a time but now they get to explore what basically is a cartoon.

Speaking of cartoons, a little further down is Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, a really good ride that Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and I enjoy thoroughly, but is it a ride of "tomorrow"? No, Buzz Lightyear when you come down to it, is a toy. 

Across from Buzz sits the recently rebooted and great Star Tours with its impressive motion simulation 3D technology. Lines are long again and people love it. With 56 possible story combinations, its a way to get people hopping back on again and again. But Star Tours is based on the Star Wars movie franchise and the creative mind of George Lucas, not Walt Disney. Accompanying Star Tours is the Jedi Training Academy which allow kids to have a great time interacting with Star Wars characters. Even if your an adult, it's fun to watch as you sit out on the venerable Tomorrowland Terrace.

Then there's Captain EO, a refugee from the 80's, that was a bad idea to bring back to Tomorrowland and everyone knows is going to be given the boot sometime in the near future. Does anyone even go in there anymore to see the silliness of it all?

And there's Innoventions itself which is supposed to be all about tomorrow but other than ASIMO, the amazing robot built by Honda, what goes on in there is essentially a big commercial for companies like HP, Microsoft, and Yamaha that pay Disney big money to pay the light bill in there.

So what's the point? The point is there is little tomorrow left in Tomorrowland. The theme of the original land is obscenely askewed. There will probably be a Marvel attraction based on the Avengers somewhere in Disneyland (or DCA) at some point and a lot of people look to the cavernous, under-utilized Innoventions building as a likely piece of real estate to acquire for a major attraction. But again, there is nothing tomorrow about The Avengers though comics certainly do have the ability to bend time and space.

Here is the thought of a heretic - just dump the concept of a Tomorrowland. To theme to that name is an effort in futility. Rides and attractions cost millions (even hundreds of millions) to build. Why try to strap them to an unachievable effort in Tomorrowland theming? CHANGE THE NAME for crying out loud. I don't know the name yet, I'm sure one will come to me but there has to be something better than Tomorrowland that will allow the popular attractions of Space Mountain, Nemo subs, Autopia, Buzz Lightyear, and Star Tours to co-exist with Marvel's The Avengers.

Now some may think this is sacrilegious going against a land that Walt Disney himself put into his park but the time has come. I wrote yesterday in a forum that many will think the dumping of a conceptual Tomorrowland would have Walt spinning in his grave. But Walt Disney has been dead for 45 years and at this point, I believe he is done spinning.

  

A Closer Look At - Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

It probably didn't start out that way but over the years Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters has probably become one of Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and my own favorite rides in Disneyland. Top five, maybe, but definitely in the top 10. Thematically, its probably not the greatest but what Buzz allows you to do is be competitive and Mrs. DLT definitely are with Buzz's interactive shoot-em'-up targets and scoring system. It's a lot of fun to try and best the score of your riding partner as Mrs. DLT do but I have a friend at work who regularly likes to show his kids who's the real game master is in the house. Nothing like a 40 year old man working over his 7 year old son by outscoring him at about 10 to 1.

There are all sorts of tips and tricks you can find on the internet that will tell how to get maximum points from your battle against the evil Zurg. If you know the secrets and can execute them you can definitely rack up some high scores. I've read the tips and tricks and still suck. The other part of that is that you need to be able to execute. You need to be able to shoot straight. One of my small crosses to bare in life is I have a hand tremor. The official diagnosis is benign familial tremor, a hereditary shaking of the hands that my mother had. I am Barney Fife. Because of the tremor, Mrs DLT routinely beats me in the Astro Blasters but I pick myself up and keep on trying. We usually go on Buzz several times during a trip. The results are the same.

The other thing about Buzz is because this is an omni-mover ride (the ride vehicles are on a conveyor built system that is almost always in continual motion stopping only for technical problems or the allowing of physically challenged riders the opportunity to get on and off) there is never a really long line to get on Buzz - usually a 20 minute wait tops. When it opened Buzz had a fastpass option available but this was no longer necessary and those fastpass machines have been turned over the new and improved Star Tours. Since Mrs. DLT do many of our trips during non-peak seasons, we seldom wait over 10 minutes to get on Buzz - always a good thing.

The great YouTube Disneyland Videographer asianjma123 recently shot a ride-thru on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters in High Definition. In his video I am amazed at the colors more vibrant than I remember. In the video I also noticed things that I haven't noticed when I'm on the ride itself. When you ride Buzz, everyone tends to be too preoccupied with shooting and not looking at anything that doesn't have a target on it.. Maybe one of my Disneyland "To-Do's" is to ride Buzz and never fire a shot, just look at the thing.

Buzz Lightyear is a solid D Ticket attraction.

The Astro Blaster - I Suck, Mike Doesn't

My friend Mike sent this intergalactic transmission to me here at work a few hours ago. Yeah, I'm at work, he's at Disneyland.  Sometimes life isn't fair.  It says his score is 628,100. His wife was a just little short of that with 31,100.  Actually, her score is something I can relate to, you see, as I have never broken the 100,000 mark in Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters.  In fact, I have never beaten Mrs. DisneylandTraveler.  I suck at the game.  Sure, I've looked online, read all the cheat sheets, know where all the tips and tricks are to pile up points but I can't hit the broad side of a barn with any kind of gun.  If I chose a career in bank robbing, I probably would have lasted about 8 minutes. I  have never fired a real gun in my life but I'm sure all the shooting ranges have gotten word and have a picture of me in their lobby that says not to let this man on their property under any circumstances.  My shooting prowess is a black mark on the male species.

But I have a date with Astro Blasters.  I'll be back.  I'll keep trying.  But I'll still suck.

Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage - A Video Look

Back in July, I posted a commentary with some pictures called - Nemo's Submarine Voyage Or Missing The Boat about my general dislike with the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage attraction at Disneyland.  While scenic from the outside, it fails to deliver very much inside the cramped little sub.

So here we go again, while going through my photos and videos looking for something completely unrelated, I was drawn to the Nemo photos and videos once again and decided to put together this quick little YouTube video for historical purposes I guess. So now we have two blog entries on a ride I really don't like.  It does take a pretty good picture though. Anyway, once on YouTube, this video is about a minute longer than it needs to be but it will do.  The magic comes at about the 1:40 mark when Monorail Orange passes over the submarine lagoon.  One of those visually magic moments that only Disneyland can deliver.

Nemo's Submarine Voyage or Missing the Boat

When it comes to taking pictures in Disneyland, few vistas offer better opportunities for memorable shots than Finding Nemo's Submarine Voyage. Bright yellow subs, blue water, Matterhorn in the background - yep, I have picture after picture of Nemo's subs making their trek around the lagoon. Everybody who goes to Disneyland has a bunch of Nemo pictures.

But the time comes when you actually "ride the ride" and here is where, for me and Mrs. DisneylandTraveler anyway, the submarine voyage misses the boat. Now granted, when the original sub ride closed down in the early 90's, it had seen its better days. The gray diesel subs had a look of "official Navy" about them but the water features had shown the years wear and neglect. It took years for Disney to figure out what to do with the prime park real estate but the massive success of Pixar's Finding Nemo movie gave Disney just the inspiration of what it needed to do to bring the subs back to life. Nemo is the second highest grossing Pixar film in terms of dollars of all their releases. For the life of me, I don't know why because it is my least favorite. Anyway, back to the ride.

First of all, get ready to wait and wait to get on. No fastpass here and the line is always long, usually 30 to 60 minutes even on slow days at the park. Then there is the sub seating. I think each sub holds about 40 people and the seats are small so you do feel crammed in unless there are a lot of small kids that take up less space. Me and Mrs. DLT hit the jackpot in a driving December rainstorm at the park, a 7 minute wait and a sub that was maybe only 2/3's full. It was the last time we bothered with the ride.

As for the ride itself, well the sub never really goes under the water, just the portholes. It starts off kind of cool in the lagoon but once the ride passes through the waterfall and you are in the actual show building, that porthole you have your face pressed up against seems more like a tv screen or computer monitor - kind of like watching the infamous aquarium screensaver. It follows the basic Nemo story of being lost and finding his way back with all the familiar characters, but it lacks charm. At one point in the ride when the underwater volcano explodes, the ride goes black for a few seconds which has been known to frighten the bejeezes out of some small children. Eventually Nemo and you find your way back home. Not a bad ride mind you but not a great one either in a setting that should have been great.

The original subs were definitely part of Tomorrowland. Finding Nemo's Submarine Voyage has nothing "tomorrow" about it. It's kind of cartoony and probably fits better now in the neighboring Fantasyland. Like other Disneyland and DCA attractions, I'll go on Nemo again someday but I won't go out of my way to do it and certainly won't wait an hour. My best chance of getting back in one of those subs is if someone asks, the line is fairly short, and I'm in a pretty good mood.

The Regrettable Captain EO

I saw Captain EO in its original run at Disneyland in the late 80's and early 90's. It ran out of steam and momentum back then. By the time it left, it was thought of as dated, silly, and very tired. Few people attended Captain EO by the time Disney pulled the plug and eventually replaced it with a new 3D film based their current hit movie franchise "Honey, I Shrunk the ...... "

Flash forward. Michael Jackson tragically passes away. For better or worse, he had a achieved mythic notoriety in his lifetime but no one could ever deny his musical genius. Honey I Shrunk the Audience has now lost its steam and momentum and few people bother to show up and watch the dated (but entertaining) 3D film. Disney needs to do something, preferably something that generates some revenue. Producing a brand new 3D film, especially one that is synced to a 3D theater is a costly proposition. But wait a minute - Disney flat out owns Captain EO. So now the executives and lawyers begin to weigh the pros and cons of bringing back Captain EO, knowing there are still legions of MJ fans out there who would be willing to pay the Disneyland hefty admission tag just to see their fallen hero one more time (and buy some conveniently available t-shirts and such on their way out of the theater). I had heard that in a private screening of EO in front of Disney executives, CEO Bob Iger had some major reservations about brining the film back but in the case good taste vs. some nice profits, the profits often win out.

And so the MJ fans came, lining up before dawn on opening day, and they continued to come for a couple of months or so. But then realization set in and people once again began to realize that Captain EO is very dated and silly beyond belief in the 21st century. Now the clamoring is to get rid of the thing for good but Disney without having any announced options has said it will play indefinitely mostly in front of a now half full theater audience most of whom leave the theater saying "I'm never going to waste my time with that again".

Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and my sister are huge Michael Jackson fans. Before going down to see EO, we all watched the great Michael Jackson documentary "This Is It" filmed shortly before his death. When Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and my sister left the EO theater on different occasions they both said the same thing "I'm never going to waste my time with that again".

So Disneyland is stuck with another albatross around its neck just like "Honey I Shrunk the Audience" and having an attraction that is begging to be put out to permanent pasture. Next week? Next month? Next year? For many, it can't be soon enough.

Star Tours Now Open

Darth Vader at the Jedi Training Academy

With great fanfare and long (and I mean very long) lines, Star Tours relaunched yesterday with its all new 3D technology and voyages to multiple destinations. Following the opening ceremonies with Disney Parks President Tom Staggs on hand, the ride opened with wait times in the 3 to 5 hour range for much of the day. This Disney promotional video is hilarious. The first Star Tours traveler seems only appropriate.