Of all the "Drawings from Imagineers" posts I have done, John Horny is the only one that is still at Walt Disney Imagineering. I met him in the halls after one of the WDI life drawing workshop back in 95' and he was kind enough to show me some of his work for the Disney cruise line that was in development.
John is one of those guys who will go down in the Disney history books as one of the great Imagineers. The last I heard he resides in a certain corner office at WDI that used to belong to John Hench. Enough said... I think so!
An Adventure comes to an end, and I don't mean Indiana Jones 4.
I'm sure it's not news to most of you, but I thought it worth mentioning that the Adventurer's Club, along with the rest of Pleasure Island will close on September 28th. The club is themed as a "gentleman’s adventure club in 1937, and every night is 'open house' where they are recruiting new members. Mainly, you!" It is a one-of-a-kind Imagineering creation, and one that is worth saving.
Head over to Save the Adventurers Club ... they have some great photos as well as a petition to save the club. With enough voices maybe Disney will reconsider and integrate it into the shopping district that is currently on the boards to replace Pleasure Island, or re-imagine it into Animal Kingdom or some other fitting location.
For the west coast, I've always wished Disney would put in an Adventurer's Club into Downtown Disney. Or even better yet, if they are never going to bring back the Tahitian Terrace, they should replace Aladdin's Oasis with a restaurant version of the Adventurer's Club.
Happy 53rd Birthday Disneyland! I hope when Mickey blows out those candles and makes a wish that he wishes for Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln to be brought back... Steve Martin you are 3 years over due.
Everyday at Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom in Florida, "Merlin the Magician selects young squires and ladies from throughout the kingdom for this test of strength and courage. If you succeed in this seemingly impossible task, you will be crowned the new monarch of the realm." And accordingly, the King should get to stay in the castle... or Walt's apartment.
What better way to dole out the grand prize for the Year of a Million Dreams promotion (a stay in the Castle or Walt's apartment for a night) than to award it as part of the Sword in the Stone ceremony? It would be a much more creative, entertaining, and public way to implement the overly advertised yet rarely witnessed Year of a Million Dreams campaign- instead of just having a cast member walk up to and say "You've won a stay in the castle."
I've been fascinated with the old coin operated fortune telling machines ever since I saw the movie "Big" where Tom Hanks pleads to Zoltar to make him magically grow up over night. These machines have a great sense of nostalgia, which is why it's no surprise that Disneyland is the home of two such fortune tellers Esmeralda and Shrunken Ned.
We all know how they work... you drop in a quarter, they read your palm or consult their cards, give you a little spiel and print you a card with your fortune. Both fortune tellers at Disneyland are really well placed and fit thematically within each land they reside. Esmeralda is an antique fortune teller that sits on Main Street in the Penny Arcade. The beheaded British explorer Shrunken Ned on the other hand, is an Imagineering one-of-a-kind found in the shops in Adventureland. You might even remember Captain Fortune Red who once resided in New Orleans Square?
I'd like to see Imagineering create custom fortune tellers for each land at Disneyland. In Fantasyland maybe the three Fairy God-Mothers from Sleeping Beauty grant you a wish, in Tomorrowland a droid may scan you and give you a piece of sage advice, and in New Orleans Square Calypso awaits to give you and eerie prediction (that you can hardly understand).
But these are Disney fortune tellers they should have greater powers than just prediction. For every hundred or so fortune cards dispensed the deck should be stacked with ones that are redeemable for something, like a fast pass for your entire party good on any ride in that land, a free trading pin, or a set of mouse ears! Or in other words all of the little prizes that are part of the Year of a Million Dreams (YMD) promotion.
I've griped about the YMD promotion before, but my issue is with the way the prizes are handed out rather than the concept itself. Utilizing Disneyland's resident fortune tellers would make winning some of these smaller prizes more surprising and entertaining for guests. It would remove the ambiguity of winning prizes under the current YMD promotion by making the who, what, when, where, and how quantifiable.
Howdie folks! Sorry there has been a lack of posts lately. I've been in a bit of a crunch at work for the last month or so. But, not to fear the worst is over and I promise a bountiful summer at WED Enterprises Blog. Stay tuned for more "Drawings from Imagineers," "Countries I'd Like To See in Westcot," "The Golden E-Ticket," "WED Life Drawing" and much more!
I also plan to start a recurring post-theme on Disney related restaurant ideas. So in the mean time I'll leave you with this amazingly fanciful image of the "Restaurant De La Reserve" in Nice, France- circa 1930 (I think?) It has nothing directly to do with Disney but I must say I wouldn't mind seeing it recreated in a Disney park or Hotel.
Most everyone who frequents the Disney Blog-o-sphere is familiar with the "It's A Small World" debacle. If you're not and want the long version, you can read up with the various links to all sides of the issue at the bottom of this post. The short version is that there are rumors of proposed changes to "It's A Small World" which include the adding of Disney characters, the removal or reduction of the Rain Forest scene, and the addition of a tribute to America scene replacing the original finale.
I have many issues with each of these rumored additions, and I don't have time to cover all of them to the degree they deserve. What bothers me the most is the mindset that the ride is irrelevant to younger generations, and that it is in need of being enhanced in order to resonate with people. I don't understand how the theme of children around the world uniting becomes more relevant to a child riding "It's a Small World" if there are Disney characters in it. It's a non sequitur, much like adding a figure of Captain Hook to Pirates of the Carribean- it's out of place and detracts thematically from the story being told.
Disney's recent history of making attractions more relevant by adding Disney characters hasn't been the resounding success they say it has been. To people like Disney archivist Dave Smith, who site such examples as the updating of the Tiki Room to the "Under New Management" version and the transformation of the "Swiss Family Tree house" to "Tarzan's Tree house," I would ask why haven't those upgrades been made to their various counterparts at the other parks if they are such relevant and successful changes? Is it because they don't want to change the original, classic version or is it because the change wasn't deemed worth adding in the end?
There is a certain percentage of the general public that will never like "It's a Small World" regardless of what is added or changed. You can't please all the people all the time. Case in point, my wife's cousins from Germany, whom, after we lured them onto the ride remarked, "that would have been fun with a shotgun." It's not for everyone, I understand. But to think that it needs a Disney tie-in to broaden the appeal and make it more popular than it has been is myopic.
To those who use the "Walt Was for Change" arguement... yes, yes, and yes. We all know Disneyland is and was a work in progress for Walt, and that he always wanted it to evolve and grow. But when Walt said those things about Disneyland there was only one Disneyland at the time. Today there are multiple Magic Kingdoms on many continents. There are various "Small World" rides amongst the parks world wide, some of which have already adopted these changes, but there is only one Mary Blair original. Isn't there some room, and value, to preserving some of the things that are unique to Walt's original sandbox?
If I were in charge at Disney I would use the fact that Disneyland is the original, and as such has many characteristics and attractions that are worth leaving untouched as historical centerpieces in the collection of their counterparts. I would use it as a selling point and even quite literally as a marketing campaign.
-Letter from the Blair Family. -KCRW Interview with Imagineer Kim Irivine. -Save the Rain Forest web site. -Letter from Marty Sklar (courtesy of The Disney Blog.) -Letter from Dave Smith at LaughingPlace.com -"It's A Sacrosanct World After All" from Your Souvineer Guide.
A sucker for anything nostalgic or historical. I like keyboard shortcuts, gas station mini-marts, the ambient sound of restaurants, cenotes, and Highway 126.
Of all the "Drawings from Imagineers" posts I have done, John Horny is the only one that is still at Walt Disney Imagineering. I met him in the halls after one of the WDI life drawing workshop back in 95' and he was kind enough to show me some of his work for the Disney cruise line that was in development.
