Monthly Archives: March 2012
Yeah….and Elephants Can Fly!
Mar 29
When talking about associations to Disney parks, most people point out the same attractions. People usually point to dark ride attractions as the iconic attractions most associated with the parks, but in particular, a much simple attraction stands out more than any. If you were to show someone a picture of Dumbo the Flying Elephant, people would immediately tell you that is a Disney park. The ride is showcased in most commercials for the company, and despite the simple design, is considered one of the ridden attractions at any Disney theme park.
Dumbo is a tele-combat style ride which wasn’t anything new when it first debuted in 1955 at Disneyland. In fact, the tele-combat rides had been popular at most fairgrounds and carnivals, something Walt Disney didn’t want his park to be, however he saw great promise in the style. The fun thing about tele-combat rides is the vehicles can vary in shape and size. The most common look is to have an airplane or space craft style vehicle. Disney had a different plan for this new Disneyland though.
Before Disneyland opened, Walt had plans to develop the ride into what Imagineers called “Ten Pink Elephants on Parade.” The attraction was built with the ten vehicles all painted pink to go along with the hallucination scene from Dumbo the Flying Elephant. When Walt saw the installation, he decided he didn’t want families to ride an attraction based on a drunken hallucination. The pink dumbos were all repainted after this to the grey elephant color with a distinction in each being the color of hat and ribbon around the neck of each vehicle.
The attraction is also outfitted with an organ from 1915 which can be heard around Fantasyland, drawing guests near Dumbo the Flying Elephant. The organ’s volume can be adjusted and can get loud enough to be heard for a mile, of course, Disneyland cast members have never turned it up that loud, but do have the ability. Beyond the organ, Timothy Mouse, Dumbo’s friend from the film, can also be heard on the attraction as he sits atop the center with the magic feather.
The attraction was one of the opening day attractions and has been through a long history of changes and has had it’s own great stories over the years. In 1957, former president Harry Truman made a visit to the park and refused to ride Dumbo as he felt that pictures of him on the attraction would give mixed messages as he was a Democrat and the symbol of the elephant was Republican.
The original Dumbo vehicles were replaced in 1990 after a support beam broke off from the ride. The previous ten vehicles were upgraded to sixteen vehicles to help with long lines. These, like the previous vehicles, were all painted grey with different colored ribbons and hats until 2005 when one vehicle was painted gold for the fiftieth anniversary of Disneyland. The vehicle was painted gold to establish it as an original park attraction. The old flying elephant vehicles have since been displayed or put on auction. In 1992, one vehicle sold for $16,000. Another currently is on display at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.
When the Magic Kingdom opened in Florida in 1971, Dumbo was also an opening day attraction. Different from the rest of the Dumbo attractions around the world, the Magic Kingdom version lacked the water feature floating below all of the vehicles. This was due to the famous utilidors being right below the attraction and water would leak into the cast member hallways if it was there. (The Magic Kingdom is built on the 2nd level and the ground level is made up of hallways for cast members to go to certain areas of the park unseen. These hallways are called “utilidors.”) In 2009, plans for a renovated Fantasyland called for Dumbo to close down and move to a new area of the park. The new location now features water like the rest of the sister attractions worldwide.
Also during the new Fantasyland renovations, the Dumbo is doubling in size, making the wait times shorter and creating a different experience. The new Dumbo the Flying Elephant as well as the new part of the Fantasyland project called Storybook Circus has begun soft openings and will have its true opening in April 2012.
Have any great memories of Dumbo? Do you love the attraction or do you not care for it? Give us your thoughts and leave a comment. I hope you enjoyed this look into a Disney park original.
Josh Taylor
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Monday Memories (3/26/12)
Mar 26
Author: Josh Taylor
For me, a Disney vacation is more than theme park attractions. When I was a child it was all about what I could ride next, but these days, its all about pleasing my senses, relaxation, and quality time with whoever I’m with. Take my Disney World trip in 2004 for example. A trip that completely changed what I did on a Disney vacation. My mom and I decided to go on a trip by ourselves while my father went to Michigan to visit some family. It was some great bonding time that my mother and I rarely got since I was growing older, 19 at the time to be exact. We decided to stay on Disney property for the first time to save on getting a rental car. We chose to stay at the Pop Century Resort which was brand new at the time and we saw as very whimsical.
In previous years, either at Disneyland or Disney World, we had stayed off property with a rental car. This allowed us to always go to Universal Studios, Knottsberry Farm, Sea World, Busch Gardens, etc….My mother and I had already been to those places and felt that this trip would be a larger exploration of the Disney World property. We didn’t want to just hit the theme parks every day. We wanted to see all of the luxury hotels, take in some great food, and enjoy the sights and sounds around us.
On one morning, our first real morning, I decided to get up and grab some coffee. I had a hard time sleeping like I do every first night before the real fun begins. I walked from my room to the main lobby and as I entered, I saw the entire staff of the kitchen dancing to music. This was better than coffee as I was shocked and excited to see such an atmosphere at a place I knew was awe inspiring, however, I still got my cup of coffee and started to walk back to my room.
Knowing that my mom was still asleep, I decided to ditch the room and walk the resort. I found myself on a trail around the lake at the resort. Not knowing of the additions to the Pop Century they were doing, I was curious of the buildings across from our resort, so I took the trail and walked around the lake.
Disney, not making anything simply, had added small signs around the lake. Each sign had a small fact about a certain decade (that’s the theme of Pop Century) or a trivia question that would be answered a few feet away. It was a great way to pass the time while walking by myself with my coffee. Not knowing what was on the next sign, I would rush over to find out.
As I made my way across the lake, I got an up close view of what was to become the earlier half of the 1900s at the Pop Century resort. In big lettering, each building had “10s” or “20s” or “30s” or “40s” on it. It was clear that Disney had plans to expand the market for value resort guests by adding upon the Pop Century Resort. (Although this never happened, and the building sat for a number of years until it was announced as the new Art of Animation Resort, I didn’t know that at the time.) I stood there thinking about what would be a great theme for each section. The 1940s could have this great WWII prop plane with swing music playing in the background. There were so many options that got me excited to see what they would do with the place.
After my stare down of the new resort they were building, I continued on the trail around the lake, taking in small trivia facts and enjoying the Florida sunrise before returning to my room. Already excited for the day ahead, I woke up my mother to tell her about the walk around the lake and how unique it was. It’s an experience I had on my own, unplanned, unexpected, and I completely enjoyed it.
(If you’d like to submit your own Disney park memory, please email it to and I will get it up on this website as soon as I can. If you would like to include a picture, please attach it to your email and I will place it in as well.)
The World That Never Was: Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Mar 21
Back at the end of the 20th century (still strange to say), there was something brewing up with these children’s books coming out of England by an unknown author. By 1999, Warner Bros. had jumped on the chance to turn the first four books into movies. The first four books cost Warner Brothers Studio nearly $2 million dollars just to have the rights to. After the first film received massive attention and box office numbers, the Disney company jumped on board with the project, purchasing the rights for the film to television deal for the first film at a reported $1 million dollars. Soon after, it became a bidding war for the possible theme park rights to J.K. Rowling’s run-away success in the Harry Potter franchise.
Yes, it is true that Universal Studios owns the theme park rights to Harry Potter, and this is specifically a Disney website, but Mickey Mouse did have his gloved finger prints on the Harry Potter park at one time. In fact, Universal Orlando President Bob Gault had once said the Walt Disney Company did have the Harry Potter rights back in 2003. An misinformed Gault was almost correct. Disney was in very deep negotiations with Rowling but both sides were having a hard time agreeing. A very stubborn Rowling was not going to allow Disney Imagineers the right to change what she had created or to scale down what she thought was suitable for a Harry Potter theme park.
By 2007, Universal had garnered the rights to Harry Potter by giving Rowling almost everything she wanted while also compensating Warner Bros. for the visual representations of several film locations planned for the future Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Well, we know what happened after that. The Wizarding World opened in June of 2010 at Universal’s Islands of Adventure and theme park attendance rose while Universal gained a 10% increase in profits. Now in 2012, they are expanding the Harry Potter area to make it even bigger, and have announced the same for Universal Studios in Hollywood.
So after years of conversations and proposals, why did J.K. Rowling pass up Disney and go with Universal Studios? Much like the film series, J.K. Rowling had stiff demands that she wanted to keep. (All of the actors in the films had to be British.) One story that had made the rounds a few years ago is that J.K. Rowling wanted Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to be of actual size. She figured that Disney had the money to do it, and she wasn’t going to scale down the key location for much of the series. That would mean Hogwarts would be as big, if not bigger, than the iconic Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom Park. Disney wasn’t fond of taking their icon since 1971 and posting Hogwarts in front of it just to make a few extra dollars.
Another problem Disney had was where to put the Harry Potter brand. Certainly Harry Potter didn’t fit in with the Magic Kingdom. Like the coming Avatar “land”, it may have fit into Animal Kingdom if Disney were to put the focus on much of the animals coming from the Forbidden Forest. I could see a proposal like this coming from Disney and Rowling shutting it down as she probably felt that Harry Potter deserved it’s own park.
As much as everyone talks about adding a fifth theme park to Walt Disney World, at this point, the focus needs to be on what already exists. Disney has done a great job over the last few years of reinventing the current parks it has. They are currently turning what many would call half-day parks into full day parks, and full day parks are becoming brand new experiences.
So Harry Potter ended up at Universal Studios instead of Walt Disney World. To that I say congratulations to Universal Studios as they needed something to boost their parks, and for Walt Disney World, I say it wasn’t worth it. Walt Disney World is doing great business with the franchises it already owns and they are doing what they need to be doing currently, reinventing instead of expanding.
How do you feel about the Wizarding World? Would you have liked to have seen it at Disney World even if that means cutting out the New Fantasyland and the future Avatarland. If it did come to Disney World, where would you have liked to have seen it? Maybe at Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Maybe it’s own park? Let me know what you think and I will see you all next time.
Josh Taylor
https://ModernMouseRadio.com
Monday Memories (3/12/12)
Mar 12
Author: Mark Sherman
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http://www.gamerant.com/tag/world-of-warcraft-wisdom
My first and only trip to Disney started with my father grouchy. I can’t say that this was a normal way for my family to begin a family vacation, as this was only the second of two family trips. Our trip to California from New Mexico was for a few reasons, but for my brother and me, it wasn’t about our oldest brother’s graduation from nursing school, it was about the day we were going to spend at The Magic Kingdom.
I remember the morning clearly with my father’s complaining about getting everything loaded in the car, and my mother cursing at my dad every time he would say something negative about the ensuing time on the road. My father had no love of traveling.
I was ten, my brother was 15. My best friend had recently died and my mother was hoping that the trip would to California and Disney would be good for me. My brother, who had just received his driver’s license, was excited for a chance to drive on the highway. At the time, though, I didn’t need the distraction, I was ten and had no real idea about death. And, my father would not let my brother near his new car, a Bronco II.
But, the trip went on. Here is how my father does a road trip: Get there. Get there fast. And, fast he drove. So fast that the Grand Canyon passed us by. Passed us by with my mom, my brother, and myself all asking for a short detour to see it. But, the diversion was unacceptable. According to my dad, the Grand Canyon is nothing more than a hole in the ground. If we wanted to see a hole, he would dig one for us when we returned from California.
It took a day and half to get to my father’s sister’s house in L.A. The only stops we made were for gas and a hotel in Las Vegas, NV. My parents, as much as I love them, have never been for planning anything out, therefore the first order of business in L.A. was finding a hotel. Once they realized that Quality Inn offered a Federal Aviation Administration discount, that was our hotel. Of course, neither my mother nor my father worked for the FAA, but my oldest brother did, and he just happened to have the same name as my dad.
I understand using a false ID to be older, but a father using his son’s identity in order to save a couple of bucks at a hotel had to be a first.
My day at Disney is cloudy in my mind. It was over 30 years ago. We have only one picture that I can recall. In the picture, my mom, my brother, and I are eating at an outdoor café. There are bags that held souvenirs, though I don’t remember what we bought. My mom is raising a fork and my brother and I are chewing our food. There is an empty chair at the table, un-occupied by the man taking the picture.
I know I had fun that day. I remember the excitement in the darkness of Space Mountain. My friends had told me that it was the best. So we stood in line, waiting for our turn for a ride. My mother stayed back. She had no love of roller coasters, a lack of love I share with her to this day. But, when I was at The Magic Kingdom, the fear was not there. I was giddy with excitement for Space Mountain and every other ride that day.
Enveloped in the darkness with planets, stars, and constellations surrounding our cars on the coaster, we blasted through space. The rapid turns, the rise and falls at space-like speeds filled me with adrenaline. When we got off the ride, we talked non-stop about the ride to our mother. When she asked my dad what he thought, he grumbled about the wait in line.
That was his primary complaint: The lines were unacceptable. No ride was worth the wait in line to him. But he wasn’t a child. He had long lost his love of childhood. A time when a line meant nothing. A time when a few moments being thrust around on two rails would last a life time.
I also remember the Haunted Mansion. I remember being in the large room waiting for the ride to begin. The ceiling soon seemed to rise rapidly above our heads and the light turned an erie green, then the frights began. I remember the ride moving slowly and my brother and I trying to reach out to touch the “ghosts.” There was also the head in a crystal ball that spoke with terror in her voice. But, I don’t remember much more.
I want to remember more. I wonder if the memories I have are created from visions of watching Disney’s Magic Kingdom on TV every Sunday. Jerry Mander makes the argument in Four Arguments Against Television that our memories often are infused with what we see on TV. His argument is that when we create a memory in our minds, that we have a difficult time separating the real memory from something we saw on TV. Thus, many of our memories may not be real, but blended from what we have seen on television.
In the end, I know I had fun at Disney. I know when I was in line for the Matterhorn, I grew more and more excited as the “mountain” loomed closer to me. I know I was startled on the ride when an abominable snow man “jumped” out high up there on that mountain. I know when I got off that ride, I wanted to ride it again. I wanted to ride every ride again. I didn’t want the day to end, though it had to. I didn’t want to go home. I wanted to stay in the Magic Kingdom forever. Just like every kid.
The next day the magic lingered as we drove home. We spent a great part of that day talking about our favorite rides. At the age of ten, all rides were my favorites. My brother, even at that time, was an astro nerd, so he had a special love for Space Mountain. My mother loved the tea cups, it is the only ride I remember her going on. My father, until the day he died, had the same answer: His favorite ride at Disney, he loved to say, “Simple, the ride home.”
(If you would like to submit your own memory for this site, please send an email to You may attach pictures to your email if you would like me to add those as well. Please keep your post at 1,000 words or less.)
The Best Things Come In Miniature Packages
Mar 8
During a time when Walt Disney was only thinking about building Disneyland, he had visited the Netherlands and during his trip he came across a miniature city called Madurodam. This miniature city would inspire Walt Disney to create an area for miniatures at Disneyland called Lilliputianland. It was to have scaled models as well as animated characters you could see, similar to the audio-animatronics we see today only scaled much smaller. Unfortunately for Walt, the technology wasn’t there to build this land in the 1950s so the concept was changed from a fully animated miniature city to a small boat ride past miniature models of famous landmarks.
The concept for Canal Boats of the World was to take park guests on a tour around the world, featuring miniature models of Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, etc…with landscapes to match those areas, which would also be in miniature form. Small boats with cast member tour guides would make their way down the canal and guides would talk about all of the famous landmarks, giving short history lessons of the areas travelled through. 
The Canal Boats of the World would open with Disneyland in July of 1955, but due to time and money constraints, was far from looking good. The miniature landscapes were not completed and several areas were left without anything to see at all. The ride gained reputation as being lame and was nicknamed “The Mud Bank Ride” due to its dirt and mud areas. The boats also had motor troubles, keeping cast members busy pulling the boats by hand, or altogether closing the attraction for the day. After only two months of operation, Canal Boats of the World closed in September to be changed and completed.
The concept of miniatures was still fascinating to Walt Disney and wanted to keep them as the focal point, just changing the theme of the attraction. The new concept, called Storybook Land Canal Boats would take guests past miniature models of their favorite Disney story villages and homes. With more time and money coming into the park in droves, the new concept was more than able to take form. Several features were added to the attraction and would finally reopen again on June 16th, 1956 as a “D” ticket attraction.
The miniature models and landscaping were top notch and the areas depicted were beautiful. Many bonsai plants were added (even Walt Disney hand planted one) keeping with the miniature theme. On the attraction, guests would ride by Mr. Toad’s home, Pinnochio’s German village, and the Three Little Pigs’ homes. 
Also added to the attraction was the “gateway” to the miniature lands. A giant cave, painted to look like Monstro the Whale from Pinnochio, would swallow guests and spit them out into the miniature worlds. Monstro was beautifully painted on the outside and inside and special features were added to him including a blinking eye and a blow hole that would blow steam from time to time, attracting park guests towards the attraction in Fantasyland. This form of the attraction has continued until this day.
With miniatures being added in the mid-90s to update the attraction for a newer generation, the Canal Boats are ever-changing. Several scenes from Alladin and the Little Mermaid have made younger guests excited while older guests can enjoy old memories with scenes from Cinderella, Peter Pan, and Alice in Wonderland. (In case you were wondering, Cinderella’s castle actually has a gold tier to it, and yes, it is real gold.)
When the attraction reopened in 1956, the boats had been upgraded with new motors as well, and all of the open air boats were given female names based off of characters from Disney animated films, except for one as an inside joke to park guests. Flower, the male skunk from Bambi is the only male character represented by a boat which should get Disney geeks, like myself, excited when seeing the boat, being able to point out the fault among their friends and family. During the 50th anniversary celebration in 2005, the “Tinkerbell” boat was painted gold as it was considered an opening day attraction at Disneyland despite the changes in the first year to the attraction.
Another great fact about the Storybook Land miniatures is that they are decorated for Christmas every year. Miniature trees and wreaths can be seen from the canal boats outside of the houses as well as on the inside of the windows. The miniatures are outfitted with small 6-inch doors that can be opened for cast members to reach inside and add the decorations or change the lightbulbs if they are have burned out.
If you are a Disneyland guest, be sure to visit this attraction, no matter what age you are, as it”s usually got a shorter wait than most Fantasyland attractions, and it’s one with Walt Disney’s name written all over it. Take note as you approach the loading dock as the lighthouse that adorns the entrance was once the ticket booth for the attraction when Disneyland had a ticket system.
The Storybook Land Canal Boats was an attraction I never got to ride as a child. For what reason? I have no idea why my parents never took me the boats, however, returning as an adult, I enjoy the calm relaxing tour of the miniature lands on a warm summer day at Disneyland. If you are looking for something to rival It’s a Small World, I suggest this attraction. It’s fun to chat with the Canal Boat tour guides and there isn’t a song that loops for 15 minutes. (I don’t dislike It’s a Small World, but it’s definitely not my favorite.)
What are your thoughts on the Storybook Land Canal Boats? Are you one of the few that rode the Canal Boats of the world. Leave your stories as a comment here.
Josh Taylor
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The World That Never Was: Epcot-Part 2
Mar 1
In the last “World That Never Was” we discussed how the concept of Epcot and Disney World got it’s start. If you haven’t read part 1, I highly recommend it before continuing. If you’d like to see Epcot: Part 1 click here. However, for this post, I would like to jump into the meat and bones of the “Florida Project” as Walt would call it. Disney World was all about Epcot to Walt Disney and nothing else. This was his dream. This was to be his biggest accomplishment. It would be the City of Tomorrow, and people would come in droves to see it.
So what did Epcot look like? Well, from above you may attribute it to the same design as Disneyland, but it was slightly different. Instead of a spoke and wheel design, this was a radial design meaning that the city started from the middle and worked its way out in 360 degrees with each radial area being different. So if you were to walk from the center of the city to the outside of the city, it would become more suburban. You could say, “But isn’t that like most major cities?” Well, yes, but this was to be perfect in every way. If you walked one mile south from the center of the city, it would be nearly identical to the area one mile north of the center. Also, know that residential areas are purely residential, meaning no grocery stores, shopping malls, or strip mall shops like you would find in most suburban areas. If you wanted to shop or work, you had to take transporation closer to the center of the city.
When I say transportation, I actually mean, the only way to get around Epcot. To keep the city from having parking garages everywhere, car crashes, and traffic problems, Walt Disney devised a way that people could get around town without having to use motorized vehicles or any sort, and in fact it can be found at Walt Disney World today. The WEDway People Mover (or Tomorrowland Transit Authority) would be used throughout the city, with several looped tracks going from several suburban stops to the city center itself. This mode of transportation would help keep pollution down, traffic wouldn’t be a problem, and Epcot wouldn’t be a parking garage nightmare.
Car enthusiasts need not panic, as Epcot would have an underground garage and street system. Much like the Magic Kingdom park, Epcot would be built on the second level so that below the city, cars could come in and out of Disney World, and delivery trucks could make there way to the center of the city. So any of you who would want to bring your 1962 Ford Mustang along to Epcot could have, and it would have been stored nicely below the city without worries of hail damage or cleaning off your car from all the dirt on the roads.
Like I had discussed in the previous article, the city center itself would be a large hotel with enough space to house all the visitors to Disney World. The 30-story hotel would be the largest building at Epcot and could be seen from anywhere in the city. The hotel would also have a convention center inside and would also have a full recreation center., but instead of the normal spacious layout of walkways, tennis courts, and pool areas like we see at most Walt Disney World resorts, this would be all contained on the rooftop of the hotel.
Beyond the hotel was the next inner layer of the city. An enclosed area, much like a shopping mall, filled with shops and restaurants from around the world. Sound familiar? That’s probably because many of us have been around the world at Epcot at Walt Disney World and that concept, intentional or not, still held up from the original designs. The People Mover transportation system would rise above the shops and circle them before moving back towards the outskirts of the city. The people working these shops and restaurants would be the people living within the city.
Another interesting concept before moving on, Walt Disney didn’t believe Epcot was a retirement destination. If you were to live at Epcot, you would also have to work at Disney World, whether that be Epcot’s shops and restaurants, the hotel, or the Magic Kingdom. The city couldn’t survive without everyone putting forth effort, so this was not a place for retirees.
Moving from the inner layer of the city to the inner city residential area, this is exactly how it sounds. Think apartments and townhomes amongst busy city neighborhoods. Epcot was supposed to have nearly 20,000 residents with most of them living within the apartments and townhomes in this area. Rent would have been cheaper than a house here, but it is also to note that Walt Disney wanted control of all land at Disney World. That meant, none of these homes, no matter what they were, were for sale. That being said, these buildings would be multiple stories, but none nearly as high as the 30-story hotel.
The connection between the inner city residential neighborhoods and the suburban homes would be what Imagineers call “The Green Belt”. The obvious name for areas with parks for people to meet, have picnics, and enjoy recreational activities if they were residents. This area also held churches, playgrounds, and community centers, and schools. Clearly the place to be on your day off from work was this part of the city.
The farthest part of the city was of course the suburban neighborhoods. This area was not to be as highly populated as the inner city apartments, but was to be a home where residents had a little more space. This area was the farthest reach for the People Mover system and would most likely be the best place to raise a family at Epcot. It is not known how far of a walk to the People Mover a resident would have to make, but through concept art and Walt Disney’s determination that this plan would really work, it doesn’t seem as though residents would have to walk very far to make their way into the city.
Mentioning homes, I do have to state that the living quarters were to be stocked with the latest and greatest applainces, electronics, etc… when moving in. Also, because Walt Disney had pure ownership of land, it wouldn’t be uncommon to come home from work to a brand new upgraded kitchen, bathroom, or living room. Some might be skeptical of letting someone come into their home and replace things, but with your rent, you were assured everything would be okay and the latest, greatest, model of whatever would work perfectly fine in your home.
So what do you think as the reader? Would you visit Epcot? Would you want to live in Epcot? How do you feel about not owning your own property or the thought of never retiring? Maybe retirement for you is to work at Epcot or the Magic Kindom park? Let me know what you think and I will see you all next time.
Josh Taylor
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