How I would improve Disneyland, part five

The next part of my look at my ideas for improving Disneyland moves on to Fantasyland!

The dark rides have been receiving upgrades in recent times, which is a good thing. But there's still plenty of room for improvement.

In the Snow White ride, that would be updated with the mural moved over to the load area somewhat, replacing the forest area and much of the cottage, like in Paris, like so (although not with the same kind of mural; more like the Disneyland one):

In the ride itself, most of it will remain untouched until near the very end, which shows the Witch, having given Snow White the apple, now offering you, the guests, the apple while standing in the door. But that will be revised so that now the Witch is actually seen giving the apple to Snow White, so that the Witch is now looking away from the guests while Snow White is in the cottage door. It looks like a scene from the now-closed Snow White ride at WDW:

The other dark rides have been updated to some degree or another, as I stated, and I think Pinocchio is fine as is. Over by the Casey Jr. Circus Train load area is a brand-new detail: a railroad crossing sign based on the one for the Casey Jr. Splash-n-Soak Station at WDW (imagine the words "Splash-n-Soak" replaced with "Circus Train" and you've got an idea):

There are currently two trains, apparently. One has the number 7 on it, the other the number 9. On the cage-themed cars, I would revise the setup of cage labels on both of them so that it has a little more variety beyond just "monkeys" and "wild animals". This is in deference to the Casey Jr. Splash-n-Soak Station, which has at least four different animal cars. Only the 7 train will now have a "monkeys" cage, while the "wild animals" cage is now renamed to "camels". But the 9 train's cages will now be named from "monkeys" and "wild animals" to "giraffes" and "elephants", which, incidentally, are the two labels on the train at the Splash-n-Soak area (but as cages, obviously):

At the other end of the land, in the Wonderland mini-area, several new decorative elements are put up. By the Mad Tea Party entrance, a teapot has been added, with the name of the ride on it. It is a giant teapot, with a familiar-looking Dormouse popping out:

Also, at the end, there is a new statue of the Cheshire Cat holding up signs pointing in different directions:

The Motor Boat Cruise area will be used for future development yet to be determined. Finally, down at It's a Small World, there will be some new updates there. For better or worse, the Disney characters remain, but there will no longer be any Disney songs intertwined in the music. There will be the additions of new characters, such as Frozen's Anna, Elsa and Olaf in the opening Scandinavian scene, and Merida in the Scotland scene. There will also be the addition of a new language added to the soundtrack, French, as you go by that area. Finally, the penultimate America scene is somewhat revised. The desert scene features more rockwork areas and Native American figures here. The other side, which is of a farm, is now replaced by a swamp area, which has a bullfrog and alligator, along with The Princess and the Frog's Tiana and Naveen standing on a riverboat. And the Hollywood Bowl-looking archway is now replaced by a set of skylines, across which the Golden Gate Bridge runs, similar to Hong Kong's version:

That's about it for Disneyland's Fantasyland. See you next time!

How I would improve Disneyland, part four

I'm sorry for neglecting my ideas for Disneyland improvements, but things have been topsy-turvy over there with the additions of Star Wars, and I wanted to wait until the dust relatively settled (at least for now). Anyway, here's some more updates.

I was originally thinking of updating Big Thunder Mountain, but that has recently been overhauled for over a year. The only thing I might do with this is to add a soundtrack to the ride, maybe something like a wild country tune (with fiddles and banjos), or maybe an Epic Western feel, like "The Magnificent Seven". It could sound something like any of the audio snippets in this video below:

And... that's it. Alas, the Rivers of America is going to be closed for over a year, so anything is possible in the future. I guess that's it for Frontierland. I might rename the Shootin' Exposition to something else, like Frontierland Shootin' Gallery.

Next, we have Critter Country. The Winnie the Pooh ride will be closed, to be themed to a new attraction yet to be determined.

But now, we have Splash Mountain, which is going to really receive some overhauls! Beyond the freshening up of the figures, which have been relatively static here and there or even missing altogether, there will be plenty of new stuff! It begins as you enter the attraction. There is the addition of a first new plaque that introduces the story to be told (just before the fireplace):

"There are other ways to learn about the hind legs of a mule than getting kicked by them. And just 'cause tales like these are about critters like Br'er Rabbit and Br'er Fox, that doesn't mean they're not the same as what can happen to folks. So those who can't learn from a tale about critters, just don't have their ears tuned for listening."

Then you reach your log boats. They have been revised to be lighter so as to hold heavier people, like the Small World boats before it. Further, some of the logs may have the heads of other Br'er characters, not just Br'er Rabbit, but others, too, like this old piece of concept art (which shows one log with Br'er Fox's head and another with Br'er Bear's):

Inside, as you mount the first lift just after leaving the dock, you see an Audio-Animatronic of Br'er Frog spinning a Br'er Rabbit yarn:

He says one of several random things like "Mark my word, that young Br'er Rabbit scamp is gonna put his foot in Br'er Fox's mouth one of these days!"

Then as you wind around the mountain, the music of the ride is somewhat revised: on the outside, it is now in the country-western style used in Florida and in Japan (but still in the orchestral style for inside). As you pass by Br'er Rabbit's home, you hear him making plans to leave home for parts unknown. As you pass by Br'er Fox's lair, you hear him make plans to capture the rabbit before he can leave. That helps to justify the rabbit trap inside, which is sprung instead by Br'er Bear, just before you go by Br'er Rabbit standing outside his home.

Across from where Br'er Rabbit and his turtle friend standing, new figures of Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear are introduced as they plot again to capture the rabbit. These are actually the same figures as from the Mickey Mouse Revue (the Three Caballeros figures having been introduced to the Mexico boat ride at Epcot), albeit somewhat revised for the sake of continuity and improvements:

Then just before you go by the branch with the vultures on it in preparation for the lift to the big drop, you go by a brand-new Br'er Bear figure, whose nose is red and swollen from the beestings earlier. He says random things like "I shoulda knocked that rabbit's head clean off!" or "That rabbit said it was a laughing place, but I'm not laughing!"

Finally, as you mount the lift hill, you see flashes of lightning and crashes of thunder to heighten the drama. This is especially prevalent at night.

And that's about it for Splash Mountain. With the Pooh ride gone and a new ride to soon replace it, there will now be a new shop to replace the Pooh Corner store as well. Aside from that, that's it for Critter Country. Next time, it's off to Fantasyland!

Fantasia - a concert in water, part two

Picking up where the previous post left off...

Next, in the Pastoral Symphony segment, there is water a-plenty, as the area surrounding Mount Olympus is full of lakes, rivers and waterfalls.

First, we have the Pegasus family swimming in the water like swans...

...after which the cute little baby Pegasi have fun.

When we meet the centaurettes, they are bathing in a pond with a cascading waterfall.

And there are lots of bubbles about when Bacchus' wine flows:

And of course, there is the huge rainstorm caused by Zeus and Vulcan:

The storm creates a lot of puddles, which the little creatures have fun in.

More water and bubbles appear in the Dance of the Hours segment. It begins appropriately with the arrival of Hyacinth Hippo:

But when it comes to bubbles, the elephants in this scene take the cake:

Finally, we have the combination of Night On Bald Mountain and Ave Maria. Water plays almost no part at all in these scenes, but it does appear. In the case of Bald Mountain, some of the spirits brought out are from in a castle moat (where they return as dawn approaches):

And in Ave Maria, the procession is seen moving past a pond and across a bridge:

So as you can see, "Fantasia" is really quite waterborne! Gives you something to think about, if I do say so myself.

Fantasia - a concert in water, part one

This is the first of two posts.

I just got back from a showing of "Fantasia" at my local theater for its 75th anniversary (which today is also the 87th anniversary of Mickey Mouse). "Fantasia" is one of those movies that is just so special that you just have to see it on the movie screen - TV screens just can't do justice.

Anyway, one thing I noticed recently (and had heretofore not really paid attention to) was the amount of water and bubbles in the movie. It can almost be seen as a water concert. Or if not a water symphony, then at least a concert where water plays a role. You might say it's like Walt Disney World's Electrical Water Pageant without anything electrical. With the obvious exception of the opening Toccata and Fugue segment, almost every scene in the movie contains water and bubbles at some point or another.

I'll go section by section...

After Toccata and Fugue, we have the Nutcracker Suite. Here, we see several moments with water, in the Dance of the Flutes segment showing multicolored blossoms on the water...

...and of course, the Arab Dance with coy-looking fish.

Next, there is the Sorcerer's Apprentice segment with Mickey Mouse. Here, water and bubbles are almost front and center here, from Mickey's directing of the ocean waves...

...to, of course, the flooding caused the broom(s) that keep filling the cauldron full of water. When the cauldron overflows, the brooms simply add to the flood.

 

And even when the sorcerer Yen Sid arrives to stop the flooding, there are still puddles of bubbles on the floor:

Then, in the Rite of Spring segment, bubbles and water appear at several points. For instance, the opening scene of no life on Earth is full of bubbling lava and rough, roiling seas:

Then all is quiet as the ocean teems with single-cell life...

...that evolve into dinosaurs. These creatures are never too far from water.

Furthermore, the fight between the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Stegosaurus is set during a downpour.

Finally, near the end, after the dinosaurs are wiped out, come earthquakes that bring in more rough seas:

This ends the first half of my review. The second half is coming soon.

Oh, and before I forget, happy birthday, Mickey Mouse! And Minnie, too!

87 years! Can you believe that?

My D23 cosplay gallery

I attended the 2015 D23 convention, cosplaying as Goofy. It was great fun! I got to see a whole bunch of other cosplayers, too. This gallery presents just a few of the characters I saw. Enjoy!

Aurora Miranda from "The Three Caballeros"

Some chick dressed as Ratigan from "The Great Mouse Detective"

That's me with a cute little girl dressed as Alice

Those are just a few of the pictures of my experience with Disney cosplayers at D23 2015. I've already decided that I'm going back in 2017 and I even have an idea for who I want to be. The problem was that my Goofy costume was quite hot and heavy, and though I was indoors most of the time, it was miserably hot out. Next time, I will try and dress more lightly.