Monthly Archives: June 2012
You Are Cleared For Launch
Jun 28
I distinctly remember the first time I stepped into a rocket and got dragged up that hill on Space Mountain. It was a rush, even more than being jetted off or going upside down. This was a roller coaster in the dark. What could be scarier. For some people, it combines fears of heights, darkness, and roller coasters themselves. For the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland park, I believe it is the ultimate family friendly thrill and a testament to the creativity of Disney Imagineering.
Space Mountain opened at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World first in 1975 but the ideas date back to Disneyland while Walt Disney was alive. After seeing the Matterhorn become a hit as the first “mountain” at Disneyland, plans were made to create another mountain. The original concept for Disneyland was to have four different tracks to keep the experience different and for a roller coaster in Tomorrowland to become a multiple ride attraction. With the lack of space at Disneyland as well as the lack of technology at the time, the Space Mountain of the 1960s was not feasible. The project was then shelved due to Walt’s death as well as the Walt Disney World project.
When Walt Disney World was finished and the park became a hit with young adults and teens as well as families, Imagineering decided the Magic Kingdom park, the only park at the time, needed more thrill rides. A new Matterhorn Bobsled attraction was initially planned but was scrapped when the Fantasyland seemed radically different and guests wouldn’t accept the mountain in that area. (Magic Kingdom had a Renaissance feel rather than an old German village.) The Space Mountain idea that had been shelved was once again brought up and would definitely fit into Tomorrowland, especially since Tomorrowland was lacking in attractions compared to other lands in the Magic Kingdom. Technology had also caught up with the team at Imagineering and they could keep all of the roller coaster systems under computer surveillance rather than hand cranks. To help cover costs in building the show building as well as the tracks, cars, and computer system, RCA was contacted. RCA had done business with Disney earlier, providing all of the communication hardware throughout Walt Disney World. They agreed to put up $10 million for Space Mountain and became the first sponsor of the attraction.
The Magic Kingdom’s first thrill ride had soft openings in December of 1974 and was officially opened to the public in 1975. James Irwin, the pilot of the lunar module on Apollo XV, was the first official guest on Space Mountain. The attraction at Walt Disney World has two separate tracks, keeping with the initial Walt Disney idea and making Space Mountain a multi-ride attraction. It is also the first roller coaster to completely engulf riders inside a show building. As a child I wondered why many other parks hadn’t done something similar and I still think this to this day. Disney is a true trend setter because of this. The modern look of the building, having the support beams of the roof on the outside instead of on the inside was done so that stars could be projected onto the domed roof indoors and look real. This look still holds up today and is one of the most interesting, unique, and recognizable buildings at any Disney park.
The thrill ride became a big hit at Walt Disney World and Disney took notice. A Space Mountain for Disneyland was quickly put on the drawing board, but the attraction building wouldn’t just house the thrills this time around. Disneyland’s version also housed an outdoor theater area, an arcade, and a quick service restaurant. The $20 million dollar building took two years to build, but just like its Magic Kingdom counterpart, it was an instant hit with guests. The track layout is radically different than that at Walt Disney World because of space limitations, but much like the Magic Kingdom, the support is on the outside giving this white mountain the same look as it’s sister on the other side of the states. Six of the original Mercury astronauts were the first riders on the Disneyland version which made this an even bigger opening than the original in Florida.
The Disneyland version of the attraction has gone through several improvements that have added to the experience. In 1996, a music track was added combining the California surf music style with a 1950’s sci-fi movie soundtrack. The music was upgraded again with a refurbished Space Mountain at the 50th anniversary of Disneyland in 2005. The new soundtrack took more from spy movies or The Incredibles than anything else. It was a big band soundtrack that added a fun dimension to the ride experience. Neil Armstrong was also on hand at the re-opening in 2005 and was awarded a plaque. New additions were also added, including special effects as well as new rockets that didn’t glow in the dark, keeping the attraction as dark as it possibly could be.
Beyond the fun of the original attraction at Disneyland, there were two alternate rides through space, Rockin’ Space Mountain and Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy. Rockin’ Space Mountain adds a soundtrack from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and new visuals are added including strobe lights and neon colored track lighting. For the Ghost Galaxy layover, several ghosts are added in reflecting along the dome “swiping” at guests riding along the track. Outside of the building, imagees are projected on to the white exterior giving the mountain a unique look for Halloween time.
Of course, Walt Disney World’s version has also had some welcome changes. The most predominant change at the Magic Kingdom is the interactive queue. As one of the original interactive queues, it features a video game you can play while you are waiting, similar to that of Asteroids. It is a great way to wait while you are not in the fast pass lane. Keeping guests interacting in line during one of the longer waits in the park.
Of course, like anything else that has become popular, Space Mountain made its way to Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney, and the most recent, Hong Kong Disneyland. It is a hit throughout the world and still a one of a kind attraction that can not be passed up during any visit to a Disney park. Is it a part of your routine?
Josh Taylor
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Sneak-Peek-Sunday: Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure
Jun 25
Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure is coming to Epcot. That’s the name of the (slightly) new interactive experience at Epcot. The Disney Company has been making a big fuss in the last few years about the next generation being much more interactive. Of course, the first truly interactive experience, with no need for actors, was Kim Possible’s World Showcase Adventure which had soft openings in late 2008 and officially debuted in January of 2009. It was a great experience for guests who were annual pass holders or had just visited Epcot enough times to need something else to do. (For me, I don’t need anything else besides a nice pint from the Rose and Crown Pub.)
The Kim Possible experience was unique and could take up a large portion of your day, or you could just solve a few cases and be on your merry way. It made sense that a secret agent spy game would take place along the World Showcase and that imagineers could hide little details in the park without other guests being bothered by people playing the game. I’m sure imagineers had a great time adding in small animatronics and details to create the game. The basis of the game was that each mission to stop villians was a scavenger hunt and each mission took around 30 minutes or so, depending on how fast you want to pursue it. Several of the pavilions had a specific mission so that you could in fact solve all of the cases within a day, or just play once and return your “kimmunicator” device.
The biggest problem with the Kim Possible World Showcase adventure is that it has become outdated. The original air date of the Kim Possible show ended in 2007, meaning that the Adventure was a good two years past when Kim Possible was cancelled. That being said, it is now five years later and not only are the Samsung “Kimmunicators” out of date (old flip style phones) but so are the characters and story lines. So what has Disney decided to do about it? Give it an update with a Phineas and Ferb layover.
I will admit as a grown man, I do enjoy Phineas and Ferb. It’s become a smash hit for Disney in terms of a cartoon series that appeals to children and adults alike. One of the greatest assets to the series is Perry the Platypus or Agent P, depending of if he is a pet or a secret agent with the Originazation Without a Coll Acronym, or O.W.C.A. Disney has taken this lovable character and decided he should play the lead role in the layover of the Kim Possible interactive game along with several other featured stars of the series. So what does this mean for play ability factors or folks who want to replay the game now that it has a new theme? There are good and bad parts to this answer.
The great news with the new Agent P Adventure is that the game and video that comes with it will have the same humor, pacing, and fun that the series has and that is a good thing. If you have never seen the show, think of a more family friendly Family Guy but with secret spies and children on summer vacations and mean sisters trying to ruin your fun. The video within the missions should leave you wanting to play more which is a great thing because that means there is space for Disney to sell you on another day at the parks because you may enjoy the experience enough to take up a good portion of your day and you will want to come back to see the rest of World Showcase. The bad part about the video is that it is still being displayed on old flip phones so it is difficult to see on a bright sunny day. It would have been nice if they upgraded to a small video player or an iPhone or Android device. That might bring some irritability to the game.
As far as guests wanting to replay the experience now that it doesn’t involve Kim Possible, I would say yes! Like I had mentioned previously, the video packages alone for each mission are funny and worth a look, and imagineers are working hard at redoing some of the things you search for to better suit the rebranding. Yes there will definitely be some things you’ve seen before if you’ve played, but you might get a kick out of what is new.
So I gladly welcome Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure to Epcot with open arms despite thinking the video players could use an upgrade. I will be excited to play this upon my next visit to Epcot and I think (hope really) that my girlfriend does too. I think this can be a blast for children and adults alike. It isn’t cheesy or over the top, just a fun filled afternoon of crime fighting with a platypus.
Leave your thoughts and let me know what you think here on the sight!
Josh Taylor
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The World That Never Was: Genesis Gardens
Jun 21
When Joe Rhode, executive designer and vice president at Walt Disney Imagineering, was put in charge of Walt Disney World’s newest theme park in the 1990s, he decided the Animal Kingdom needed to stand out immediately for park guests. That is why a number of different concepts were tossed around for the entrance to the park. Yes, The Oasis wasn’t the only choice for the Animal Kingdom park. In fact, I would say The Oasis is by far the most boring of these ideas. One of the more impressive ideas for the entrance was to built a giant Noah’s Ark that people would walk through into the first land which was Genesis Gardens.
The ark itself would have a number of animal displays when first entering the park, moving the story of the kingdom right along. The ark, and essentially it’s biblical tie in, would state that animals are important, and were saved by Noah. Just an early reminder that animals still need to be saved, tying in with the overall conservation message that Disney always wanted for the park. From an architectural point, this boat sitting at the front of Animal Kingdom would be absolutely massive. It would be big enough for several hundred people to walk through at one time, hiding all of the lush forest and landscape that sat behind it, making the reveal of the lands a grand surprise.
The Genesis Gardens would be the first land you would encounter, like The Oasis. The Gardens would lack in animal displays, but would be a very lush and tropical land, similar to that of Eden. (Again, another biblical tie in.) The land may have had several experts showing off smaller animals, much like they have now, but for the most part, Genesis Gardens would be a great spot to stop and smell some tropical flowers. No doubt, it would have been a great spot for pictures at the beginning or ending of your day. It is unclear if Genesis Garden would lead to Discovery Island, or if this concept was long before the Tree of Life idea. It could have led right over to Dinoland U.S.A or Beastly Kingdom. I prefer the entrance land as it is now, to lead to Discovery Island. I like that this land of Eden would reveal a much larger picture in Discovery Island, plus I can’t imagine the biblical tales of Eden blending into either dark lands with dragons or dinosaurs.
There were other ideas for the entrance to Animal Kingdom as well including a wastleland area, with a large pterosaur perched up on a rock overlooking guests as they walked in, however the dinosaur tie in seemed a bit too early for guests expecting tigers and lions. Another concept was to have a more caged zoo type of feel, although the conservation message wouldn’t have flown over as well, and this was a very early concept before imagineers recognized that they wanted more natural habitats for Animal Kingdom. The Noah’s Ark story made it quite far incorporating a large portion of land, making up the entrance way and the first land you come across as you enter the park. It was grand and unconventional just as Joe Rhode wanted, so why was it never built?
Despite the lack of excitement the Oasis and typical entrance have to offer, they are the least offensive to the general public. Sure, some people would absolutely love the Noah’s Ark and Eden themes, and even some non-Christian believers would understand and recognize the overall message they would get when entering the park, however, as the biggest tourist destination in the world, Disney has to look out for the masses and their feelings. It is quite possible some guests would never even visit the park based on religious beliefs, and they would miss out on everything the park had to offer, not just the entrance area and accompanying land. So, what we got was The Oasis. Nothing overly exciting, but it does it’s job to unveil the Tree of Life as you come to the end of the land.
What are your thoughts on Genesis Gardens and the Noah’s Ark entrance? Do you agree with Disney’s choice not to add it to it’s newest park at Walt Disney World? Do you have any other ideas for the entrance to the park that would be grand in nature? Leave your thoughts and let me know?
Josh Taylor
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Sneak-Peek-Sunday: Test Track
Jun 18
Go ahead, ask my mom what her favorite attraction is at any Disney Park and she will tell you Test Track. Something about cars fascinates her, but not just her, millions of Americans, so when Disney opened Test Track at the end of the 1990s, it was a big deal. It was not only Epcot’s first major E-ticket attraction, but it was unique in that the car could stop, move, speed up, slow down, etc…depending on what the story called for.
Telling my mother that Test Track was closing for a long period for a face lift was somewhat heartbreaking for her, but she was happy she wasn’t planning a vacation this summer. I showed her some of the great ideas coming back into the attraction and she loved them. With Radiator Springs Racers in Disney’s California Adventure opening this summer as a similar attraction, you can see whats being added to enhance an already exciting attraction.
First, just as you would see it, Test Track will get a brand new queue line. No longer will there be the crash test dummy theme for these cars. Instead, guests will be able to see different parts of the car and how they can work before “customizing” your ride experience by choosing what kinds of parts will go into your car.(Thanks to Chevrolet of course.) It is currently unclear as to what customizing your car is detailed in and how the queue will flow with this process, but if this allows a better educational experience as well as a better ride experience, I am all for it.
As you hop into your previous test track car, now called “SimCar”, you will get to see how your customized vehicle does through the former tests that Test Track has always had. You will see how good your brakes are, what its like on rough terrain, and see what kind of speed you can hit out on the track. Of course, I would assume all of this is done through different sounds and movements of the car. Much like Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland or Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom, each vehicle can be changed, but this attraction lets the guests customize that. I’m sure we will also see video pop ups of successful runs and failed runs. Think of what was once part of the attraction with someone narrating over the attraction through your car speakers and video screens throughout the course, but these will change depending on what you’ve specifically done to your car.
In the post show area of the new Test Track will be more of a Chevrolet showroom, showing off some classic cars as well as some futuristic, one of a kind, custom vehicles. You’ll be able to take pictures, use workstations to send emails, and make car commercial videos in this area. It will be a slick looking new showroom for a modern time, allowing guests to continue the experience or to just walk on through and continue on to the next attraction or take a stroll over to Mexico for margaritas, just don’t drink and drive. (Sorry, couldn’t resist the lame joke.)
So is this refurbishment worth the wait? The answer I think is yes and no. I say no, because they are closing one of their top attractions during the middle of the summer and it won’t return until November. This means guests visiting Epcot can expect longer lines at Soarin and Mission: Space. However, I say yes because Test Track, although still fully functional, was seeing lots of wear and tear. The vehicles, at the least, needed new paint jobs, and the course currently looks rather cheesey compared to what we see at other newer attractions. Adding a face lift, and some cool interactive features should bring lots of crowds back to this attraction and free up some queue space at some of the other major attractions in Future World, we just have to bear and grin it for this summer.
What are your thoughts on the new Test Track concept? Do you like the ideas? Do you prefer the old attraction? Could they have waited to do this refurbishment? Let me know your thoughts and until next time….keep driving!
Josh Taylor
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Back up and running.
Jun 16
Accreditation hundred dollars later along with enduring the sales pitch for an hour, I have a brand new laptop. There will be a sneak peek Sunday article tomorrow!
Josh Taylor
Computer Problems….to be continued
Jun 13
Unfortunately, my computer took a nose dive and has seen better days. That being said, no posts will currently be posted. Updates will happen soon. Promise!
Josh Taylor
Sneak-Peek-Sunday: Dumbo’s Big Top Tent
Jun 10
If you’ve been following the construction of the New Fantasyland at Walt Disney World, I’m sure you’ve seen pictures of the brand new Dumbo the Flying Elephant attraction in Storybook Circus. It looks amazing, has a fresh feel, and with the 2nd Dumbo opening soon, the attraction will be able to take on more guests. Along with the dueling Dumbos opening is Dumbo’s Big Top Tent which will represent the brand new queue area for Dumbo.
When the New Fantasyland was announced in 2009, one of the biggest additions was the transformation of the Dumbo attraction. The ride experience would stay the same, but the queue would radically change with the Big Top. Instead of waiting in a line, you would play games until it was your turn. Nobody really knew what this all meant until the recent announcement and explanation of the new Big Top Tent, and in fact the technology here is very simple. As you enter the Big Top Tent, you will be given a pager, much like a restaurant that has a waiting list, and when it is your time to board one of the flying elephant vehicles, you will be paged. In the meantime, you are more than free to play around in the tent, which mostly consists of jungle gym type of things (Slides, rope climbing, etc…). Parents can take a seat and watch their children or play along as well. This is a simple concept, and I am excited to go through this new experience myself, but I do see some bugs in the system happening.
Not to play devil’s advocate, but I can’t seem to think that this is going to run smoothly for Dumbo cast members. They now may have one of the hardest jobs in all of the Magic Kingdom. Not only do they have to make sure everyone is safe while playing in the Big Top, but they have to get guests onto the attraction in an orderly fashion when their pagers go off. I can easily see a parent having to drag their child from the tent to get on the flying elephants which could potentially keep the ride behind schedule if they take too long. What happens if the batteries on the pager run out and you’ve been waiting for far too long and never get called? What happens then? There are numerous possibilities that can turn this brand new queue idea into a ready made disaster area.
On the other hand, with some great staffing and training, this may be one of the best areas to go to get out of the sun, knowing that the cast members at Dumbo have everything under control. Maybe they have thought of all of the factors that could lead to a bad experience and will be fixing things before they ever happen. Maybe they change the batteries in the pagers daily. Maybe they call numerous people at once and if you don’t show, they just keep calling you until you board a ride vehicle. The only people that truly know are the cast members at Walt Disney World.
Regardless of all of the possibilities, I’m glad to see Disney Company put money towards a better guest experience and to spruce up a very classic attraction. I will be anxious to hear and see for myself when this attraction fully opens and guests make use of the Big Top area. I guess we will all have to wait and see.
Josh Taylor
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“Partners”
Jun 6
Iconic, symbolic, bold, historical. There are so many ways to describe the statue that sits right at the center of Disneyland’s hub, but to sum up how I have personally felt standing and looking at Walt Disney and his partner, Mickey Mouse, can’t be described in words. As a full grown man, I can tell you I have shed a tear or two seeing the castle at the end of Main Street when first entering the Disneyland park. This emotion overtakes you knowing that you are at the “Happiest Place on Earth” and it strikes up these great childhood memories for me, but when I stood in front of the Partners statue in the spring of 2005 facing Walt Disney, I got this entirely different feeling. I assume it may have been the same feeling as if I had met the man himself. This idea that I was standing in the presence of one of the greatest minds of the past 100 years and the creator of so many of the things I loved as a child was just overwhelming. I understood why Imagineers would build this beautiful dedication to Walt and why it stood at the center of the hub, but how did it get there. What’s the history behind “Partners”? Well, there are two people to thank for that: Disney Legend’s Charles Boyer and Blaine Gibson.
Charles Boyer was hired at Disney in 1960 and was a superior illustrator. Boyer worked on magazine covers, brochures, flyers, and several limited edition lithographs for Disneyland over his 39 year career at Disneyland. You have probably seen many of his artworks, but in 1981, he created a limited edition lithograph of Walt Disney holding Mickey Mouse’s hand. He titled the piece “Partners” and it became a huge hit, not only with guests, but also with cast members and executives at the Walt Disney Company. In 1987, Michael Eisner even changed the name of the Disneyland Employee Federal Credit Union to the Partners Federal Credit Union. That’s how big this single illustration got. The picture itself even hung at the credit union until its’ closing in 2010.
The much loved illustration by Charles Boyer became his classic signature piece and in 1999, at his Disney Legend Window Dedication, his window on the Emporium shop read “Partners Portrait Gallery-Charles Boyer, Master Illustrator” to honor not only Boyer, but his crowning achievement in his 1981 portrait of Walt and Mickey.
Charles Boyer can be credited with the idea and name of this particular bronze statue, but Blaine Gibson has to also be credited as the man who really brought this idea to life in the three dimensional world. Gibson started working for Walt Disney in 1939 as an assistant animator, but when the Disneyland project became reality, he was transferred to WED as an Imagineer and was put to work sculpting Native Americans for Frontierland and mermaids for Fantasyland. Over the years he worked on the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, and the Hall of Presidents. Many of the most famous audio-animatronic figures at Disneyland and Walt Disney World can be credited to Gibson, including every single former president in the Hall of Presidents. (President Obama was only supervised by Gibson.) He retired from the Disney company in 1983, but when Imagineering needed him, he was always available to help.
After retirement, Marty Sklar, another famous Disney Imagineer, got Gibson into the art of statues. He had done several around the states, and when approached by Sklar in doing a statue of Walt and Mickey, he agreed to doing so. Eisner was really the one behind the idea as he had thought that after Walt had been gone for 20 years, the children of a new generation were growing up with the Disney name but not knowing how Walt Disney was, and the company wanted to keep Walt as the figure of the company, not just keeping the name.
Gibson decided that the statue would represent Walt Disney at a time when most people would recognize him, 1954. At that time, many people knew him from the Disneyland television show and the various specials. People saw him as the lovable Uncle Walt at this time and Gibson felt that this was the Walt he wanted to represent. Mickey is also made to look like the character of the same era, not the pie-eyed Mickey from the 1920s and ’30s. Walt was chosen to be pointing out as to say to Mickey, “Look at what we have accomplished partner.”
Of course, that wasn’t the first pose chosen. There were several ideas thrown around including Mickey eating ice cream, Mickey running out in front of Walt, Walt with the blueprints of Epcot rolled up under his arm, but the pose of Walt pointing forward while holding Mickey’s hand was much more symbolic and stayed true to the art of Boyer.
Credit also has to be given to Blaine Gibson for the large amount of detail added to the statue. Gibson could have easily put Walt in his normal sport coat or sweater and called it a day, but the small details are really what make the statue stand out. Specifics like the “STR” on his tie, standing for Smoke Tree Ranch, his getaway ranch in Northern California, add a sense of who the man was, not as an icon or legend, but as a normal man who was able to make something of himself.
The dedication ceremony took place on November 18th, 1993, with several Disney legends on hand and over 7,000 children from around the world as guests for Mickey’s 65th birthday party. Roy E. Disney said a few words before the unveiling of the statue. As the statue was unveiled, Mickey and his friends were all standing there for a picture with the brand new bronze Walt. A plaque was also added that day in front of the statue, which still stands today, that says ” I think most of all what I want Disneyland to be is a happy place…Where parents and children can have fun, together-Walt Disney”.
Of course, a similar statue was added at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom with one big difference between the two. The plaque has a different quote from Walt giving a similar speech, but about his”Florida Project.”
There is also a similar statue at Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Studios Paris. A statue of Roy O. Disney was added to the Magic Kingdom park in October 1999, at the front of Main street where he dedicated Walt Disney World back in 1971. He sits on a park bench with Minnie Mouse, a great alternate to the Walt and Mickey statue. The Roy statue is called “Sharing the Magic” and was again created by Blaine Gibson. Roy is holding Minnie’s hand underneath as if to support it much as Roy supported Walt throughout all of his endeavors. That is the story that Gibson tells and it speaks largely of Roy and what he really meant to the Walt Disney World resort, continuing Walt’s dream even after his death.
With the reintroduction of Disney’s California Adventure park, a new statue will be unveiled showing a younger Walt and Mickey as they first arrive in California. It will be a Walt as you may have seen him in the early 1920s, and although Mickey had not yet been created, the Disney company wanted a rival statue to “Partners” so they could use the two statues and bookends for the Disneyland resort. It is unknown if this statue will also see duplicates at other parks, but for now we can all visit California’s Disneyland Resort and enjoy the beauty of these bronze figures.
What are your thoughts on “Partners” and the other statues? Does it ruin your pictures of the castles at Disney parks, or do you prefer them in your picture? Have you ever stopped to just admire the detail in the bronze? Give your thoughts and until next time.
Josh Taylor
https://ModernMouseRadio.com
Sneak-Peek-Sunday: Mad T Party
Jun 3
Just as Walt Disney had said of Disneyland, this blog will always be changing, adding new and better things for the future as I do think that there is so much to cover, this blog will never be finished. Maybe a horrible comparison to Walt’s famous words but I don’t care. Monday Memories has been sidelined for something else a bit fresher and unique. Yes, this is a website called Disney Park History so for the most part, we have looked at the past of Disney Parks, but I always stay tuned to podcasts and the official Parks blog for the upcoming new attractions that are coming to the parks. Disney always has something new coming, whether it be a brand new boat joining the cruise ship line or something like a counter service restaurant overlay. The point here is, there is enough content to cover, not only of the history and background of the parks, but also what is new and exciting at the parks. So Sundays are now dedicated to the new or relatively new attractions, shows, restaurants, etc… at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. For my first week on duty talking about what’s next, I wanted to pick something of huge interest for me and that’s the rethemed dance party and California Adventure that launches this month called the Mad T Party.
With so much coming to and changing at the California Adventure park this coming June 15th, 2012, it is easy to get excited about the Disneyland Resort and a summer vacation to the Anaheim area. Cars Land has shot to the top of everyone’s must see list, but let us not forget some of the other great things coming to Disney’s California Adventure like the new rethemed night time dance party called Mad T Party, which stands for Techno…or Trance….or something else.
As a musician, one of the things I love most about the Disneyland resort is the abundance of live music. You don’t get that at Walt Disney World as much unless you are really looking for it, but at Disneyland it just seems to always be there. Whether you are talking about the Dapper Dans on Main Street or the three piece Jazz group playing in New Orleans square. There is always a sense of live music everywhere you are at Disneyland. However, Disneyland has always been much more conservative with music, but it really has to be. Appealing to a family friendly environment and staying true to the themes of each land, it is difficult for contemporary music to make it’s way into the Disneyland park. It has been done before, most notably in Tomorrowland or in Carnation Plaza, but typically a more relevant style of music isn’t heard in the Disneyland Park, so when California Adventure brought ElecTRONica to the table a few years ago, I was astonished and excited.
Let’s get one thing straight, I’m not a huge dance club person, nor have I ever been, however I very much like the tourist destination club far more than the local city clubs and they have more people and usually a better atmosphere. With ElecTRONica you had both. Tons of people visit the Disneyland resort each day, so why not invite them into a huge dance party, not only that, but a great theme party with lasers everywhere. ElecTRONica was a brilliant idea on Disney’s part. It was cheesy, it was hokey, and it wasn’t necessarily kid friendly, but that is okay. It was the true club goers atmosphere. Cocktails, loud techno, beaming lights, and lots of people dancing together. So, when Disney announced ElecTRONica was ending, I hoped they would just be overlaying a new theme and not killing the idea for good. I was right, and to boot, they picked the perfect theme. The Mad T Party fits perfectly with a new crop of younger folks who saw the Tim Burton film or have watched Once Upon a Time (The Hatter is by far the best character in the show.) and it appeals to an older generation who love the cartoon and know the bright colors and interesting characters, not to mention the already acid trip theme that goes along with the story. Disney took techno to a whole new level with this. (The DJ is the White Rabbit) A dance party where all of the staff are from Wonderland and the drinks are all named to the story. With the Tweedle twins watching the entrance as bouncers, this looks to be fun right from the get go.
Beyond the cool open air rave atmosphere in the Hollywoodland Backlot area, the Mad T Party is one-upping ElectTRONica by having a live band as well, with the Mad Hatter and Alice as duel lead vocals in front of a giant screen that essentially vibrates with the music. With the band playing top 40 hits, this keeps park guests, who don’t care for the thumping of the latest Dubstep record, in the area to sing along to the songs they like on the radio. Another craze sweeping the nation in the past few years have been the “Dance Crews” and the T Party seems to have that covered as well with playing cards and other characters putting on performances nightly.
This reinvention of the dance party at California Adventure is at the top of my To Do list and I look forward to being part of the dancing and singing in the years to come. For now, I hope this satisfies your appetite. See you all midweek for another history lesson here at Disney Park History. Until then, keep dancing.
Josh Taylor
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