My Ideal Disneyland Part 2

Okay, time to continue. I am really sorry for the length of part 1. I got carried away. I promise I won't do that again. So the last thing I covered was Innoventions. I want to mention that at some time during the 10 years that it sat attractionless, it was used as offices and dressing rooms for cast members. There is a great story from a past CM about it here. Check out the rest of his site. It's awesome!

So moving on. Next, I'll cover Autopia. It is one of the earliest attractions in Tland and although it has been altered a bit over the years, it's remained largely the same. In "my ideal dland" I really wouldn't change anything about Autopia. It's one of the few dland rides I've never been on but I can see what it would be like. BORING. But that's because I can drive. Kids love it because they feel like they are driving and who doesn't want that when they're a kid? The only problem I have with it is that it doesn't really have anything to do with the future. We have cars. In fact, there were cars back in the 50s too, so why was this put in Tland? Will 8 year olds drive in the future? Who knows? But it's got to stay. I wouldn't take it out because it's so popular with the kids and it's a classic. The only thing I could think of to make it more futuristic is to make the cars more streamline or make them look sort of like landspeeders from Star Wars. I don't know. Anyways...

Sub Voyage is next. Unfortunately, I never went on the old Sub Voyage. I actually remember being at dland when I was about 6-ish, maybe even younger. We usually skipped Tland, but we didn't that time I guess. I remember being on the loading dock and getting scared. I was with my dad and I was afraid because I thought it was a real submarine and that it went all the way underwater and I was a paranoid little kid so I was afraid it would sink or something. So, I didn't go on it and my dad went alone while I stayed with my mom. :( Even if I had gotten on it, I probably wouldn't remember much about it to this day but I still wish I had. Shortly after that, it was closed. I don't know why. I've seen pics and I think it looked awesome. I also wish they would've kept the mermaids, which were only there for about a year when it first opened. (There's lots more pics out there if you wanna look them up.) But reportedly, the girls' hair was getting fried by the chlorine and guys were being rude and some of them even jumped in after them, which I don't know whether to believe or not. So after the lagoon sat empty like a ghost of the past for about a decade, they brought it back as the Nemo ride. I've been on it once and it was pretty cool. I just have a problem with pixar in dland for some reason. It doesn't seem legit or to me or something. But whatever, a Nemo sub ride is better than no sub ride! But if I had my way, I think I would have rather had them bring back the old one but revamp it and make it better. I think they had an Atlantis section...they could have made it have a movie tie in part at that part, although the movie wasn't that great a success. I liked it. And it wouldn't be an "Atlantis movie ride" Just the Atlantis section of the ride could be inspired by the architecture and stuff in the movie. They could throw in some monsters, giant squid, loch ness monster, whatever. Then, it would be more geared towards "tomorrow" too...like the discoveries of the future. Just a thought. Daveland has a bunch of great pics of the old sub ride here.

Okay, if I do another attraction, this thing is gonna be WAY long but before I go, I wanna say that I wish Tland weren't so huge. Like the entire upper right corner of the park is just sprawling Autopia track. If they would've just made the track tighter, they'd have more room for some fantasy land stuff. Or better yet, they could've put the Matterhorn up there and put another Fantasyland attraction where the Matterhorn is. I just feel like Tland gets too much room. It hogs like half the park while poor Adventure land is like "a hallway with Indiana Jones at the end of it" as I read of one blogger. It's just sad. Adventureland has so much potential but no room! So sad. Anyways, that's all for now. To be continued...

My Ideal Disneyland Part 1

Okay, so welcome to All Things Disney. Last night unfortunately was one of those nights where I just couldn't get to sleep and I had a horrible headache. So, I had a LOT of time just lying in bed thinking about stuff and because I have recently been in "Disneymode" I of course thought about dland. So this may be a really long entry...sorry. I'll try to spice it up with some pics or links. Okay, so I've been studying the past of disney in depth on various blogs and websites and find it fascinating. I'm gonna go counterclockwise around dland and just tell you my thoughts and opinions on it. P.S. I think I'm gonna have to do this in sections. I'm starting with...

Tomorrowland

It has changed so much! Tomorrowland has been through more incarnations than any other lands in dland. Here are some really early pics of Tland over at Disneyland Nomanclature taken in 1963. Here are some earlier ones from the same site. So some of the earliest rides were Autopia, Rocket to the Moon, Astro Jets, and The Flying Saucers. Tomorrowland looked sort of like a bunch of circus rings with rides in them. Than came the "New Tomorrowland Project" in 1967, then another revamp in '98. I personally think that it looked the most "put together" and cohesive before the '98 redo. Here's info. on what changed and when. So there's a bit of history for you. Now for my opinions haha.

I'll start with Star Tours. This attraction used to be The Hall of Chemistry, Then Adventure Through Inner Space, Then Mission to Mars (I could be wrong on the chronology of this or even the rides that were in that building so correct me if I'm wrong but I am sure that Adventure thru inner space was in there). It is now Star Tours. In my ideal Disneyland, this attraction wouldn't be there. Star Wars does not belong in dland. It is also a boring and outdated ride. However, it is a very popular attraction for the little ones and Star Wars fans and although I don't believe it belongs in dland, it does belong in Tland, if that makes any sense. Like if Star Wars were a disney movie/production, it would belong in dland but it's not. But whatever. In my ideal Disneyland hypothetical revamp, I would end up leaving Star Tours there, although I might update some stuff...

Next is the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Theater (Magic Eye Theater?) and Space Mountain. I believe that space used to be occupied by the Flying Saucers and was then The Tomorrowland Stage. Then came Space Mountain and the "Space Stage" was sort of built under it during the period of the 1st Tland revamp. Here are some great pics over at Disney on Parole of SM when it first opened. You can see the "hole" with the open air Space Stage below it. Also the moving ramps in the front gave it a great futuristic look. Here's another pic. (Notice People Mover still in use!) I personally love the look of it and am really sad it went when they installed the Magic Eye Theater with the retarded '98 revamp. They closed the "hole," put an indoor theater in there, and took out the ramps, sort of ruining the awesome presence of the whole area. Here are some pics of the destruction of the ramps :(. This is the top of the closed "hole" It just looks like a pointless fake helipad area. I think they should just put some entertainment up there for the people waiting in line haha. Heaven knows the line's long enough! So here is what it looks like today. Pretty lame compared to the old one huh? I certainly think so. Ugh. :( Oh look! It's a spinning orb of uselessness! The only thing I liked about the '98 revamp was the paint scheme. Although I think the original sleek futuristic white looks great too. So, in my ideal dland, the ramps would have stayed along with the theater and the "Golden Eye" would never have been put in. However, now that the eye is in and was "Captain EO", it is currently "Honey I Shrunk the Kids," which is INSANELY outdated and needs to be updated. My opinion (an idea from mollymouse) is that they should do a Wall-E 3D show in there. They may also want to put the ramps back in and put a theater space up on that helipad space that is up there doing absolutely nothing. So that's my opinion on The Golden Eye Theater and Space Mountain in My Ideal Dland. :)

Next is the large spinning building which, as a child, I had no idea what it's use was. In fact, when I was little, we always skipped Tland entirely because it was so lame and I was too small to go on the only good attraction (Space Mountain) and too scared to go on the other pretty good attraction (The Sub Voyage). It was early 90s btw. So it was conceived as the "Carousel of Progress," part of the '67 revamp. Walt was very interested in the future and always changing and moving forward. From what I understand was a sort of animatronic diorama of a man and his family. They would take you from before the invention of electricity and then as the room spun around to different dioramas, they would progressively go further into the future, ending with "Progress City." Apparently Walt was interested in creating an ACTUAL progress city. That man had no boundries haha. The attraction an interesting concept and the unique ride layout had great guest capacity and was pretty efficient. However, obvious problems arose. I'm assuming the Carousel of Progress eventually was taken out because the "future" simply became the present. What was futuristic then became silly to the people of the present. Also, sitting and watching an animatronic guy talking to you for 20 minutes? or so doesn't sound so great. (What is it with animatronic shows? I don't see the appeal.) So then, it became "America Sings," another animatronic show which had NOTHING to do with the future or the theme of tomorrowland. Seriously? Who came up with that. I think it would have sucked. Here's some more pics. Then, the building sat vacant for 10 years and they moved some of the animals over to the new Splash Mountain ride. How utterly said. It is now "Innoventions" though. Here it is with it's '98 revamp paint scheme, which as I said before, I kind of like. They've since gotten rid of most of that color scheme so this is what it looks like now. Back to the crisp, clean, original Tland white. :) I had never been in the building until this summer and I must say it is interesting and a bit confusing. You go on on this cool rotating platform and watch a video (narrated by Nathan Lane, which only a Disney geek like me would notice haha). Then we went in and saw this guy do a "new musical technology" demo and it was confusing because we were still on the spinning part so there's rooms and doors that we are passing by in the middle and it's like "are we supposed to stay here or can we explore or what?" Then, the presentation was over and we stepped into the stationary middle piece where there is a "house of the future," which sort of combines the Monsanto House of the Future concept with the Carousel of Progress concept. Although instead of an animatronic family, it's cast members welcoming you to their house party. You go in and tour there home and look at all of their awesome technology. You can stay in as long as you want and just run free in there. There's a front room with a player piano (not exactly new technology but still cool), a living room where you can watch a movie on the big screen (Cars was playing when we went in), a high tech kitchen (with a sink that doesn't work. RETARDED), a game room with touch screen games and a karaoke stage, the girls room (with some awesome light/music technology) and the boys room (with the same sort of technology and they actually have a GREAT selection of music to choose from). Oddly, the parent's room and a bathroom is missing. Then you go upstairs and find all of these displays of "new technology" and it's basically like a big showroom completely disconnected from the "House of the Future" thing. I found it disjointed and ill-thought out. Better than America Sings but still. Really? So here's my suggestions for "Ideal Disney-fying it." First thing, rename it "House of the Future." Second thing, make it handicap accessible. One major downside to this ride is that the only exit is upstairs. So put an elevator in there people. You'll get more guest capacity that way. Third, take out the confusing exhibits like that music dude. They are just disjointed and confusing for the guests. Maybe you could have a movie or something while you're spinning waiting to enter the house. I don't know. Forth, take out all the crap on the second story and put a parent's room and a bathroom of the future up there. I mean there is some awesome bathroom tech out there. It would be funny and cool. Besides, where is the family supposed to pee? Come on now. You could even have a cool high-tech rotating closet thingy in the parent's room. Also, you could put a "ball room" up there where people can just dance and have fun and there should be a DJ like they have at the Jedi Training place. The family IS supposed to be having a house PARTY after all. Make the whole thing one cohesive attraction, not a jumble of weird ideas. Lastly, I have problems with the karaoke stage in the game room. I like karaoke and I LOVE disney songs. So problems with it are that the song choices suck. There's I Wanna be Like You, The Circle of Life, some HSM songs (UGH) and a couple others I think. And the lame choices they DO have are short versions and the lyrics are different. They even sound different. Also, on the karaoke screen, they shouldn't show little kids jumping around like monkeys during "I Wanna be Like you." They should show the FREAKING MOVIE. You have the rights, Disney YOU MADE THE MOVIE so why the stupid videos behind the words. Also, there are people singing the song with you. Not backup. It's people singing. THE WHOLE POINT OF KARAOKE IS SINGING WITH THE MUSIC WITHOUT THE ORIGINAL SINGER. If it's a sing along they should call it that, geez. It just defeats the purpose and takes all the fun out of it. Make the karaoke better!.....So yup. Those are my suggestions for Innoventions and I thing they are pretty darn good ones too. :) By the way, here is a pic of it when it was gutted after America sings. Here's some more.

So, there's my first entry. Hope you enjoyed the history and my thoughts. It was rather long as I predicted. I'm not even done with Tomorrowland yet. Oh well. More material for later blogs. :) Tell me what you think. I LOVE COMMENTS and spread me to your friends and stuff. To be continued....