YouTube Tuesday #21: 1993 Walt Disney World Vacation Planner

But seriously, “Wo-ho, Wo-ho, A Piwates Wife For Me” is just adorable.

Back in the day, Disney Vacation Planning videos combined all sorts of presentation elements to make you DROP EVERYTHING AND GO TO DISNEY WORLD RIGHT NOW YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!! For whatever reason, many of these elements are lacking in modern Disney Parks videos. But for whatever reason, the early 90s videos did a better job of showcasing everything at the resort, rather than just the most profitable elements. They showed an opportunity to relax and have a vacation. They showed options for all walks of life, not just the core demographic. And they use phrases like “fun is the only thing Mickey takes seriously.”

My favorite part about these videos (besides the EPCOT Center footage obviously) is the music. They are special, barely-recognizable BGM versions of classics from Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, Journey Into Imagination, and Spectromagic. You really have to listen to hear them, but they’re there in full glory. And they’re tuned in such a way to make you FEEL like you’re in a more relaxed era, where the best way to spend an afternoon is to sit at the Dixie Landings food court, and the best way to spend an evening is to golf or go ride World of Motion. There’s literally no pressure. No Fastpass+ to make. No advanced dining or character reservation to run to. Just relaxation and fun.

Notice how Disney by this time still wasn’t afraid to be authentic. I mean, just look at how many REAL PEOPLE they interview! And you can tell it’s authentic. These people are not being fed lines. Especially the British guy who rhapsodizes about the Country Bears (saying pithily they’re “a bunch of bears dancing and singing”) or the teenagers who literally can’t remember what they saw in the costume warehouse portion of the Backlot Tour, or the woman who says Space Mountain “hits the ceiling” (whatever that means). And the Cast Member interactions are authentic too. You can tell they’re not actors. And it makes all the difference. A short rundown of some random musings:

·       I love seeing a lot of the old footage and costumes. The skippers with their old costumes and using real guns. The (real) old video footage of Mansion and Space. The Old Tomorrowland (though we don’t see much of it outside of the Speedway, Space, and Delta Dreamflight), and of course Mickey’s Starland.

·       This is the point in history when Disney Animation still considered Rescuers Down Under a classic. Also, Goofy and Donald are considered “fairy tale characters.”

·       There’s an interesting Roger Rabbit sighting riding Thunder of all things, maybe he got lost on the way back from Griffith Park?

·       As expected, there is some absolutely choice EPCOT Center footage. Everything from the Rainbow Tunnel to Mesa Verde. And a tour of the countries before all the margarita wagons. Le sigh.

·       There’s a quick tour of MGM in the Superstar Television/Monster Sound days, where half the appeal of the Backlot Tour was Residential Street and Ernest’s house.

·       I want to go to Pleasure Island again. Right now. Take me. Especially since apparently the entirety of Orlando can get shoved in front of the West End Stage for the New Year’s celebration.

·       The exploration of the hotels is quite welcome and quite a contrast to today’s tourist brochures. Notice how much they play up the sailing and motor-boating aspects. And they’re very quick to point out that Caribbean Beach, Port Orleans, and Dixie Landings are “light on your pocketbook.” And the Disney Inn!

·       They actually mention the non-Disney property hotels! Swan and Dolphin and the Hotel Plaza are featured in short segments.

·       Remember kids, Disney had villas/condos before there was the Disney Vacation Club. It was called Disney’s Village Resort, right where Saratoga Springs is currently.

·       DID I MENTION REAL PEOPLE ARE INTERVIEWED?

And remember to fly with Delta, kids! Remember when Disney had such strong ties to sponsors, and when Disney cared about advertising with them? What happened to that? Now it's "presented by Siemens...we think?...we guess? Did they pay for this exhibit?" But here we actually get TESTIMONIALS from customers on why Delta Airlines is so spiffy. Be Our Guest, indeed!

For the next few weeks we’ll be taking a break from roller coaster specials and featuring the old 1990s Disney planning videos. So we hope you enjoy a nice nostalgia romp. Or, conversely, you’ve been warned.

--ParkScopeJeff (@ParkScopeJeff)

Our Last Ten YouTube Tuesday Features:

#20: The Ultimate 10 Thrill Rides

#19: The Greatest...Thrill Rides

#18: Scream Machines

#17: The Secret World of Amusement Parks

#16: Coastermania

#15: Billion Dollar Fun: Creating the Film-Based Attractions at Universal Studios

#14: Amusement Parks: The Pursuit of Fun

#13: Extreme Rides 2000

#12: Thrill Rides: Designing Fear

#11: Inside Disneyland Paris

**Send Jeff a line at HamGamgee@gmail.com. We appreciate your feedback!

Parkscope Unproffesional Podcast Hour #139 - Accio Christmas

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Joe and Lane are joined by Banks Lee from Attractions the Show to discussion Super Nintendo World permits, Walt Disney World parade taping, Sunset Seasons Greetings at Hollywood Studios, Universal's Holiday Parade featuring Macy's, The Magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle, Celestina Warbeck, and the holiday offerings at Gaylord Palms!

Email us at parkscopeblog at gmail dot com or follow us at Parkscope, ParkscopeJoe, ParkscopeNick,  ParkscopeLane, and Sean.

Permits Filed for Super Nintendo World at USF; Construction Begins Early 2018

In a bit of late breaking news WFTV reports permits have been filed for demolition and construction for Super Nintendo World. Demolition of KidZone starts early 2018.

CONFIRMED: .@UniversalORL submitted plans for 8.8 acre Super Mario Land, called Prj 487, at USF in KidZone/Barney/Animal Actors area behind Simpsons land. Will have Donkey Kong and Mario Kart areas. Construction likely to start early 2018. pic.twitter.com/jWGhjEkSBm

— Chip S. (@chickenlilchip) November 21, 2017

Plans show that the ET ride building will be spared in the construction of Super Mario Land at .@UniversalORL in KidZone area.

— Chip S. (@chickenlilchip) November 21, 2017

The Mario Kart section of Super #Mario Land is 76,916 square feet; the Donkey Kong section, 204,993 square feet. With estimated 3 year construction time for Japan's #Nintendo expansion, USF land could be open in time for @WaltDisneyWorld 50th in 2021.

— Chip S. (@chickenlilchip) November 21, 2017

A few more #Nintendo Land plan details, including a map. The plans show Universal plans to have dining with a total seating capacity of 365 seats. Sorry we didn't have time to shade in the map, but you can see Simpsons and Fast Food corner to the left and ET to the bottom right. pic.twitter.com/xXqg52s9CX

— Chip S. (@chickenlilchip) November 22, 2017

We will have more as news breaks.

YouTube Tuesday #20: Ultimate 10 Thrill Rides (2000)

Top 10 lists are REALLY fickle. Especially when we’re focusing on the theme park industry, which has a new “best thing” du jour every year and twice on Sundays. This little gem comes to us from the far-off land of the Year 2000. These were the coolest thrill rides (well, at least according to TLC) in the world at the time.

It’s interesting to see which ones would still make a Top 10 list today (I’m thinking probably the top 2, maybe still #4 as well) now that we’ve been privy to the flowing sands of time and a thousand new paint jobs. It’s also interesting to play Joe’s favorite game with specials like this, “guess which rides are still standing!” Or at the very least, which rides are still in their original incarnations. Some rides have been taken down. Some have been moved to other locations, some have new paint jobs, some kind of run backwards or whatever. It’s another worthwhile nostalgic look at the past.

In all seriousness, how would you structure a Top 10 thrill ride special? The structure presented here is not bad: they try to have as much variety as possible, so there’s one stand-up, one water coaster, two inverted (both very different), one flyer, one hyper, one giga, one Woodie, one freefall, and one reverse freefall. Besides being a Rollercoaster Tycoon fan’s wet dream, that’s a good amount of variety for a Top 10 list.

Or, would you stack your favorite rides on it, regardless of what kind? I’m sure there would be more than one giga or Woodie, right? But then you have to push out some quirky rides that might bear mentioning. Would you include themed non-coasters like Spider-Man or Tower of Terror? Certainly they would qualify as thrill rides, yes? And what’s the deal with having Buzzsaw Falls rather than Atlantis? I guess Buzzsaw is more roller coaster-y, but it wasn’t really that interesting of a ride.

This special is also noteworthy for the whacked-out elements it has to try and keep the material entertaining, as if the Top 10 thrill rides on the planet weren’t interesting enough. Among the more bizarro elements are the insane desire to have the feature riders be as random as humanly possible (we go from a team of ACE-ers in the first segment to, I’m not kidding here, the American Superstars female dance troupe. Aesthetics?) as well as the straight-out inexplicable tags and adjectives they give to each ride (Volcano is dubbed the “ultimate hot coaster.” Not sure how big the field is in that category). (Thinking more about the feature riders, I have this hilarious image in my head where all the feature riders come together at the end of the show and perform a finale number, Country Bears style, with Ric Turner doing a chorus line with the American Superstar dance girls). Also, take a shot every time the narrator makes a terrible pun. Here’s the hit parade:

“The Riddler STANDS for Revenge!”

“This water ride delivers a helping of H2-WHOA”

“Volcano is the hottest ride in Virginia”

“If you don’t roll with this ride, you’ll come up snake eyes”

“This is the coaster you’ll love the most-er”

It’s unfortunate that TLC went through a cringing “hip and edgy” phase at the same time that Disney decided to flog that horse. Seldom it works. But next time, how about letting the “ultimate 10 thrill rides” speak for themselves, huh TLC?

--ParkScopeJeff (@ParkScopeJeff)

Our Last Ten YouTube Tuesday Features:

#19: The Greatest...Thrill Rides

#18: Scream Machines

#17: The Secret World of Amusement Parks

#16: Coastermania

#15: Billion Dollar Fun: Creating the Film-Based Attractions at Universal Studios

#14: Amusement Parks: The Pursuit of Fun

#13: Extreme Rides 2000

#12: Thrill Rides: Designing Fear

#11: Inside Disneyland Paris

#10: Scream Parks: Inside Six Flags Magic Mountain

**Send Jeff a line at HamGamgee@gmail.com. We appreciate your feedback!

Immersive Irony Experience Theme Park Podcast - Fata Morgana Memorial Episode

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Alan, Lane, and Alex discuss Orlando trips, yet another Halloween Horror Nights 27 review, Volcano Bay, what happens when you have a billion dollars burning a hole in your pocket (aka Pandora), Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, Mine Blower impressions, the state of the Busch and SeaWorld parks, Alex visits the new Owa Park, Six Flags over Georgia is actually amazing, Lightning Rod, Lane’s Europe trip, Oktoberfest and Olympia Looping, Efteling and Symbolica, Stroopwafels, Diggerland, Fall Fun Fest, and MORE.

YouTube Tuesday #19: The Greatest...Thrill Rides

Now we’re getting serious. In week two of our three week roller coaster not-exactly-holiday-themed marathon, we present one of the classic roller coaster documentaries of all time. “The Greatest…” was a very popular (for TLC) series of “best of” documentaries at a time when people just loved them some cable documentaries. In this installment, we get to see the roller coaster installment of the series, since we knew for darn sure we were going to get one.

The Greatest Thrill Rides is an all-time classic coaster doc. It is very much the “thrill ride” version of the all-time classic Funhouse. Like its dark ride compatriot, this doc seeks to comprehensively take the viewer on a journey of discovery (…and awareness?...) though the past, present, and future of thrill rides. Like the best cable docs, watching a show like The Greatest Thrill Rides is like adventuring through a thrill ride museum, studying the best of the history and excitement of thrill rides the world over. It’s one of those features that you would show someone if you could only pick one thrill ride show, because it covers all the bases in the limited time it has to thrill you (blah blah blah!).

The past is covered through the occasional references to Russian ice slides and switchback railways. The present is explored through a whirlwind “best of” tour of the greatest thrill rides on the planet circa late-1990s. To be fair, the top of the lists are pretty bad (I won’t spoil them for you, but woof), but of course they cover all the late-1990s crazes, from inverted coasters to woodies to stand-up to hyper. Each one is given a quick feature and an obligatory post-ride interview with the Ric Turners of the world.

The next segment is focused on the creation of the coasters, and the construction. These features will be familiar with those of you who have been keeping up with our weekly YouTube output.

And then halfway through, the show does a complete 180. Because it’s not about roller coasters anymore. We’re going to the malls and arcades, and to the Vegas strip, and to Universal. Because we’re going to talk about the thrilling simulators which are just the bees knees these days (how many times do you think I can use the words “thrill” or “thrilling” in this article? I think at least a few more times). These, we are reminded, are called “immersive thrill rides.” Cue the Gary Goddard cameo appearance.

What’s cool about this segment is I have absolutely no idea what most of these rides are, or were. Were these simulators in malls or traveling exhibits? The narrator says there are more than 70 of these exhibits around the country…I don’t even remember this being a thing. Was this a feature at large malls like South Coast Plaza or the Irvine Spectrum back in the day? Did they have changing movies? If so, how often did they change? Did you get to choose your adventure like that enormous POS basement bench simulator at the Excalibur in Vegas? Over the course of a few seconds, we see simulator movies of: riding Revolution at SFMM, traveling through a collapsing mine, driving down a Mad Max-style desert road, a haunted cavern, a funhouse, a giant roller derby obstacle course thing (I don’t even know how to describe that one except to say it looks like a first-person view of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time sewer level), a trench, a large building, a pleasant Calabasas side road, a “street race,” a mountain, a pre-Spider-Man drop off a building, and Days of Thunder at Kings Island.

But when we get introduced to simulators, of course we have to explore the 1990s Vegas simulators! That’s right, for the first time on a theme park doc, we get an extended sequence featuring In Search of the Obelisk, Race for Atlantis, and Star Trek: The Experience! This has to be my favorite segment of the show, since I love love love me some Vegas simulators. My brother and I spent many a vacation visiting these rides constantly, since we weren’t yet old enough to gamble this was the next best thing. And we actually get to see some behind-the-scenes action! The IMAX camera for In Search of the Obelisk, some real 3D models and a feature for the HUGE 3D glasses for Atlantis (with an interview with Rhythm & Hues!), and a tour of the bridge and the simulator cabins for Star Trek! This makes me happy, since Star Trek: The Experience was one of the most mind-blowing attractions anywhere in the world when it opened in 1998, Disney or otherwise. I always wished they could have moved it to Universal after it closed. It’s that cool. And the Star Trek museum! Absolutely fantastic. The Transporter Room to this day is one of the greatest-ever pre-shows of all time.

And lastly of course, we get the future. And the future is not only Universal Studios but video games. And I’m not just talking about Sega Rally Championship or another one of those you’ve seen a million times. Ladies and gentlemen, I present….Vertical Reality. That’s right. Vertical Reality. At 43:12.

How many of you remember this one? It’s a 25 foot-tall freefall tower in front of a giant shooter game. When you shoot someone else, you go up. When you get shot, you drop. WHERE HAS THIS BEEN?! What happened to this idea besides the predictable number of lawsuits?

We end the show with an exploration of what this show considers the “ultimate thrill ride.” I don’t know what TLC’s obsession is of going out into the real world and saying the “future of thrill rides” is something we’ve been able to do for decades (like bungee-jumping and sky-diving). But anyway, this particular show’s idea of the ultimate thrill ride is Air Combat USA, a really for-real Top Gun simulation where participants actually get to shoot at each other. In real planes. Driven by Air Force pilots. That’s cool. I wonder if it’s still around? *Does a quick Google search* Hey it’s still around! And it’s in FULLERTON??!! How did I not know this when I was living in Anaheim? And it’s only…$1,700! And you save $50 when you book two people! That’s so cool!

And FYI, Alan Schilke (the guy who always interviews with Arrow D) just wants to throw out there at 51:30 that the “ultimate thrill ride” or roller coaster is one that can turn you independently in the car in any position at any time along the track. Direct quote: “if you can change the rider’s position relative to the car, it’s almost like a fourth dimension.” These words are actually said. In 1997. Isn’t that spooky? Nay, isn’t that…thrilling? (ha! I did it!)

Tune in next week for the conclusion of our three-week roller coaster fest, and one of my favorite all-time thrill ride specials!

--ParkScopeJeff (@ParkScopeJeff)

Our Last Ten YouTube Tuesday Features:

#18: Scream Machines

#17: The Secret World of Amusement Parks

#16: Coastermania

#15: Billion Dollar Fun: Creating the Film-Based Attractions at Universal Studios

#14: Amusement Parks: The Pursuit of Fun

#13: Extreme Rides 2000

#12: Thrill Rides: Designing Fear

#11: Inside Disneyland Paris

#10: Scream Parks: Inside Six Flags Magic Mountain

#9: Busch Gardens Tampa Revealed

**Send Jeff a line at HamGamgee@gmail.com. We appreciate your feedback!

Parkscope Unproffesional Podcast Hour #138 - 2 Pirates 2 Caribbean

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Nick, Sean, and Joe break away from a busy week to discuss the news of Universal's new hotels, some small rumors, Sean's impressions on Pandora, Sean's thoughts on Volcano Bay, and Sean's wrap-up for HHN27. Then we answer your questions from Twitter!

Email us at parkscopeblog at gmail dot com or follow us at Parkscope, ParkscopeJoe, ParkscopeNick,  ParkscopeLane, and Sean.

YouTube Tuesday #18: Scream Machines

Arrow-Batic sighting! Arrow-Batic sighting at 57:20! Thought I had to mention that for all you pre-2000 coaster fans.

But first, a quick special announcement: starting this week, we have a three-week roller coaster theme for YouTube Tuesday. Scream Machines will be the first of three of TLC’s most popular roller coaster specials from the late 90s. Won’t that be fun! That is all.

This is when TLC really started to get serious about talking roller coasters. Once they got a few coaster notches on their docu-belt, they started really letting it fly (the next two weeks will feature the two coaster specials that really made TLC a must-watch destination for coaster fans).

Much like our Coastermania feature, this special is geared to talk about the craziness of roller coasters. We follow (again) some ACE members around and talk to them about why they like coasters and why we like coasters and why we like to ride them.

The late 90s was right at the tail end of the epic decade-long coaster wars (which never really end, but the 1990s were extra intense). The big blockbuster coasters of the late 90s are featured here, such as Millennium Force (though technically 2000), Goliath (ditto), Superman, and Stealth. This special can be hilariously dated because the narrator claims that amusement parks have to fill the seats because “it’s hard to convince folks to visit when admission prices are starting to climb above $40!”

We get some good coaster psychology and lingo here. We of course start by talking about how coasters are an adrenaline rush, that thrill rides are like a drug, etc. We follow around the ubiquitous ACE-er Ric Turner (who I guess is contractually obligated to be in every 1990s coaster special) and explain why amusement parks give ACE and coaster enthusiasts some ERT: because they are the “super-users” and influencers who will (theoretically) say such great things about the new ride as it opens.

Then we get into a surprising amount of coaster lingo. We learn about protein spills and code yellows. We learn how similar a launched coaster effect is to an F14 carrier landing, and what happens to the body during a blackout/greyout. We also get a cool side-by-side comparison of a Space Shot and the ejector seat training tower for the Navy.

The narrator then brings in a couple of behavioral psychologists (one of them has an eye patch! Seriously! If I were his patient I would BEG him to start our therapy sessions with “How ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR you feeling? I would lose it!”). They explain how coasters are designed to keep your brain in constant sensory overload, and that these surprises lead to euphoria when the coaster is successfully conquered. They also discuss the different types of screams (there’s 4 of them!) people use while riding coasters and how it relates to real life communication.

In one of the more interesting segments, the psychologists strap a woman with electrodes to monitor her heart rate and force her on Goliath. It’s a damn good thing she didn’t mind that much.

We have a few interviews with coaster designers who, in a departure from most coaster specials, actually talk about the tempo of the ride, and the psychological tricks they use to make the ride seem scarier. The anticipation of the first drop. Placing objects (or wooden infrastructures) near the track to make it seem like the ride’s going faster. The head choppers. The point is to straddle the line between terrifying people and getting them to come back. There’s also an interesting piece of rider narrative here that, though most coasters are un-themed, designers still approach coasters as a story, with the rider as protagonist, and every drop and loop a dramatic story element. It makes heroes out of everyone on the ride when the coaster is conquered. And that’s a nice lead-in to the IOA segment.

So I don’t know if they have this anymore, but apparently back in the day IOA had a “coaster stress management” course for coaster phobics. We follow some of their stories as they go through the class. And then the first coaster they go on is Hulk! Jeez, talk about a trial by fire! Some of them are predictably wetting themselves.

We then go into the Arrow Dynamics segment and the “FUTURE OF COASTERS!!!” segment now becoming all too familiar for these shows. We follow Arrow engineers as they help design the very strange Tennessee Tornado looper for Dollywood, then talk about the future of thrill rides which are, say it with me, CyberSpace Mountain, Universal, simulators, blah blah being successors to coasters. “But nothing will ever replace the real WHOOOOSH you get on a coaster!”

We talk about how “in the future, coasters will go 200 mph and will be 800 feet tall and yada yada” until we get to…ARROW-BATIC. It’s here! We finally found it!

Like the ThrustAir 2000 and the flying coaster, the Arrow-Batic was a ubiquitous “coming soon!” coaster through many coaster specials in 1999 and 2000. Arrow-Batic was, to paraphrase, sort of like an earlier version of Intamin ZacSpins like Green Lantern: First Flight. It featured two or three rows of overhanging cars that, because it was so compact, could perform many maneuvers that inverted coasters couldn’t, like diving down 90 degrees! Oh and flips and other stuff. It’s good that one of our specials finally turned up this old chestnut!

But wait, it gets better! Following Arrow-Batic we get even more ridiculous nonsense that never made it off the drawing board. Like Vekoma’s Cliff-Hanger Tilt, which stalled the coaster train on a platform and would tilt it straight down. Or how about Vekoma’s Hammerhead Stall (!), which…is basically an Intamin Impulse coaster except with standard above-the-rail trains and straight vertical towers and…trains shaped like airplanes. You can’t make this stuff up! Anyone ever heard of these? Now you have!

Tune in the next two weeks as we ramp up to the BEST TLC coaster specials!

--ParkScopeJeff (@ParkScopeJeff)

Our Last Ten YouTube Tuesday Features:

#17: The Secret World of Amusement Parks

#16: Coastermania

#15: Billion Dollar Fun: Creating the Film-Based Attractions at Universal Studios

#14: Amusement Parks: The Pursuit of Fun

#13: Extreme Rides 2000

#12: Thrill Rides: Designing Fear

#11: Inside Disneyland Paris

#10: Scream Parks: Inside Six Flags Magic Mountain

#9: Busch Gardens Tampa Revealed

#8: Inside Universal's Hard Rock Orlando

**Send Jeff a line at HamGamgee@gmail.com. We appreciate your feedback!