If you're a fan of the Disney theme parks, there is a fascinating new blog by a handful of people in management at Disney Imagineering and Pixar offering their suggestions for how Disneyland can be improved.Here's a sample:
For no apparent reason the current powers that be lowered the rockets off their perch and slapped the contraption on terra firma right in front of the entrance to Tomorrowland. Gone is the vista. Gone is the clean open space. Gone is the thrill of spiraling over the rooftops of Tomorrowland. Gone is the gleeming [sic] white rocket spire far in the distance that drew you into Tomorrowland. Now the ride is the exact same experience as Dumbo's Flight with the added benefit of being in one of the worst places imaginable for a ride of this sort.
And another:One has to wonder, if the Imagineers went to the parks more often: Would that giant wand and sorcerer hat still exist? Would the fluorescent lights along the Casey Jr. track be more satisfactorily hidden? Would that lady on Main Street who cuts silhouettes that render each of her subjects as hydrocephalic, would she still be working there?
With Pixar creative head John Lasseter set to become creative consultant for Disney Imagineering (who design and update the theme parks) and with an ever-increasing number of Disney attractions based on Pixar films (Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, a Bug's Land in California Adventures, and the Submarine Voyage's re-opening next year with a Finding Nemo theme), it will be interesting to see if the suggestions find a receptive audience.
Thanks to Theme Park Insider for the tip.
Another essential Disneyland website is Yesterland, which documents rides and attractions which no longer exist at the theme park.
In related news, Mice Age's Al Lutz reports that the Imagineers will be updating Disneyland's Haunted Mansion to give it better special effects and a more coherent plotline.
The biggest changes will be coming to the attic scene, as that's where the new plotline will be most evident. As it is now, the attic scene is simply a cluttered and dusty place with a ghost inexplicably dressed like a bride with that spooky beating heart. But when the additions are all installed, the bride will become a much more sinister character who has apparently been killing off all of her previous husbands.
I've probably ridden the Haunted Mansion fifteen or twenty times, growing up in Los Angeles and being a frequent visitor to Disneyland. But I never knew until a couple of years ago that there was some sort of story behind the ride. Apparently the story was pieced together by fans and popularized on the internet, but knowing the story makes the ride that much more interesting.
From Al Lutz' commentary:
You can bet that these changes to Haunted Mansion will cause quite a stir from the online Disney community, which is exactly what WDI is expecting. Certainly there will be outcries from the diehards, but the Imagineers working on this project openly admit that they are aiming these show changes to the other 99% of Haunted Mansion riders who have never heard of Master Gracey or the convoluted story of his bride awaiting his return from sea.
