With the D23 Expo 2013 only two days away, I wanted to give some advice and recommendations about how to enjoy your time at the Anaheim Convention Center.
First off, arrive early. If there is a panel that you are interested in seeing, make sure you are there early. Be there maybe 2 hours early. If you are interested in the Walt Disney Studios presentation which is Saturday at 10:30am, I recommend getting in line as early as possible. Lines will begin to form at 5am and that’s when you should be there if you want to see this one.
Now I know I get a bit overwhelmed with the whole event because there is so much I want to see and do, but just take a breath and have fun. Just know you can’t see everything, but you’ll still have a wonderful time. There will be plenty of exhibits and vendors to enjoy for hours on end and you will be sure to get into a panel or two.
The following are panels and presentations that I would like to see:
1. Mayhem, Mischief, and Monkeys: The Magic of Mystic Manor – A panel discussion about Hong Kong Disneyland’s newest attraction inspired by the Haunted Mansion. – Friday August 9th at 10:30am
2. Undiscovered Disneyland – Tony Baxter and Josh Shipley will present never before seen footage from Disneyland dating back to the 1950s. – Friday August 9th at 12:30pm
3. Voices of the Disney Parks – The people that bring Disney Parks to life with their voices will be there to discuss and share stories. – Saturday August 10th at 2:00pm
4. Richard M. Sherman and Alan Menken: The Disney Songbook – These two Disney Legends will be performing many of their classic pieces. – Saturday August 10th at 6:30pm
5. Walt Disney Imagineering’s 60th: Working with Walt – Disney Imagineers from Walt’s era will discuss what it was like to work with the man himself. – Sunday August 11th at 9:30am
6. Walt Disney Imagineering’s 60th: Craft of Creativity – CurrentDisney Imagineers will discuss what it is like to work as an Imagineer. – Sunday August 11th at 1:00pm
Those are all the panels I am going to try and see this upcoming weekend. For a full schedule of events, click the link below:
Disneyland opened in 1955 and had created something no one had ever seen. It was a wonderland that they saw unfold in front of their eyes on the Disneyland TV show but they really couldn’t grasp it until they saw it. And many only saw it a few times growing up. I know my parents probably only went to Disneyland once as children. My mother grew up out-of-state so that’s not uncommon, but my father was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Torrance, CA – a short drive to Anaheim. I was born in Los Angeles in ’84 and grew up in an annual pass starting with Fantasmic! and had one thru the ’90s. I then bought my own in college along with so many of my friends that also had them – and almost all of us have kept those APs active since.
Our Disneyland Group – All Passholders
This was a new phenomenon that had never been seen before. Yes, even though Disneyland is approaching its 58th anniversary, the paradigm is still shifting. It’s likely slowing down at this point but Disney Parks have had to adjust to this trend of life-time APs. Society has shifted so drastically since the 1950s. We are living in a world where if we want something, a majority of us are lucky enough to just get that thing. For those of us with parents that saw Disneyland as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Disneyland became a weekly activity. We are doing what they couldn’t – and we love it!
Unfortunately, this has led to crazy crowds at the parks due to locals getting off work, out of school, etc. to enjoy the luxury that is Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park. What I’m saying is: the price hikes are mainly our fault and I, for one, take responsibility for it.
For out-of-towners, like I mentioned in the last blog, Disneyland is still a once-a-year and even once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And Disney’s reputation of being the crème de la crème of vacation destinations makes $90-$95/day expected and less of a shock. However, what I’ve been seeing on the blogs and twitter feeds is that the APs are hurting the most here. So much so that even my family has downgraded to just the SoCal pass from the Premier we had just last year. And I think we started last year with Deluxe AP last year and upgraded for our WDW trip.
Disneyland is Your Land
The unfortunate truth is that Disney Parks need to be able to plan for this influx of APs and vacationers. At DLR more than WDW, the APs descend upon the park and tie up parking with single-passenger vehicles, tie up entrances with sheer numbers, and fill the lines when merging numbers with single-day park guests. We wanted to go to Disneyland more because we could — but are we sure we should?
Friday, the blogosphere started theorising an impending hike to the cost of Disney parks admission rates from single days to annual passes. Saturday, everyone’s fears were realised and the apparent rage from APs was loud and clear. To the casual single-day purchasers, it was just another day as people write-off Disney parks as already being astronomically expensive.
This post is to try to take a look at what’s going on here with no internal knowledge whatsoever. Just an observation and some theories about what’s going on here and what it means for APs and the parks. And, perhaps, even stick up for the parks a little bit.
Exponential Expansion!
Cars Land, Fantasy Faire, New Fantasyland, International Expansion, etc. Parks & Resorts, as far as I can tell, operate under the same umbrella (I’m looking at you, Aulani.) Disney Parks and Resorts have really expanded in the last few years. From a business standpoint, the money Disney makes from TV, movies, games, etc. is recycled back into that entertainment division. Same with ESPN and other Disney-owned properties. Those things influence trends in the parks, etc. but for the most part, the parks themselves act as their own division of the company, and rightfully so.
Disney Parks and Resorts are notorious for spread-sheet marketing strategies and planning. “Will this _____ themed attraction bring more people into the parks?” Unfortunately for Disneyland and Disney Parks enthusiasts (APs), the variable at the moment is movie franchises. These franchises make so much for the company, the money people look at the possibility of marketing it in different ways. So much-so that they go with the Star Wars model now of building franchises around marketing strategies — and it has been working.
Radiator Springs Racers
Cars Land, Little Mermaid, Be Our Guest restaurant, etc. We are seeing this on both coasts. No new ideas a la Pirates of the Caribbean in 1967 where there was nothing quite like it and was started with an idea as simple as “how much fun would it be to plunder with pirates!?” It was fun and became an über successful attraction that begat an über successful film franchise which then, in turn, begat an über successful film adaptation to the original ride.
All of this said — there are people in the parks — hoards of them! The strategy is working and even with the negative PR from, unfortunately, the most dedicated fans, there’s still hours of lines at all of the parks indicating to the financial folk that something is working well.
If we were to go back to prices from just 20 years ago where you could get a single day for $28.50, adjusted for inflation today would be just $44.60. Then, take into account the people who aren’t coming to Disney Parks because of the (now) $92 (at Disneyland — $95 at Magic Kingdom at WDW) and start to factor those people in at a would-be $44.60 and you’ve got capacity days year-round with barely any room for us APs at a would be rate of $313 ($199 for a premium pass in 1993).
Let’s look at the positives that come out of this:
Crowd Control
Crowd Control. While the APs hate these price hikes because we are long-time devotees to the parks, the single day tickets will still be flying off the shelves at a steady rate and tourist traffic will still drive the parks into the proverbial black (not sure how profitable or not that parks actually are). APs descend upon the parks at a rapid pace as the days get longer and longer and this affects crowds all week-long. TDA in particular has their work cut out for them and while I may not like it, I understand what they’re doing and have to respect it. It’s all for a better guest experience, in my opinion.
Still Relatively Affordable
It’s still a bargain in some respects. If you’re still a super devoted Disney aficionado, chances are you have a Premium AP. The price difference between the Premium and Premier pass is $310 on the west coast. That more-than pays for itself after 3 days with a park-hopper option if you were to go to WDW. Unfortunately, that’s the only tier in which it’s affordable. The difference between a Deluxe pass and a Premiere pass is $480 which wouldn’t pay for itself with even a 10-day park hopper pass at WDW. WDW has a different AP structure with only two options that I can see: Regular AP and Premium. The difference between the Premium Pass (now $776.39) and a Premier pass is $202.61 which is $7.39 less than a 2-day Park Hopper option at DLR. I would assume that any WDW passholder wanting to visit the DLR would come for more than 2 days and that would, again, more than pay for itself. However, again, the regular AP (now 648.59) at WDW is $330.41 less than the Premier pass and that wouldn’t be cheaper than getting a 5-day Park Hopper to DLR for $300. So, really, the Premier pass is still a bargain if you: a.) already have a trip planned to the opposite coast, b.) plan a stay for at least 3 days at WDW or 2 at DLR, and c.) already have a Premium Pass. Otherwise, it might be the better option to buy your park-hoppers — and that’s not even including hotel accommodations!
New Attractions!
New Attractions. While we don’t see a ton of movement on this front, let’s look at the stuff we do have at the parks and rejoice that there’s new stuff to do everywhere and refurbishments happening elsewhere. Unfortunately, those are taking precedence over some things like OSHA requirements and safety concerns (read: Space Mountain and Alice in Wonderland at Disneyland). We are all hardcore Disney nerds and we KNOW that new Tomorrowland and Frontierland attractions at Disneyland are in the Blue Sky stages at WDI so what are we so upset about?
It just wouldn’t be possible to handle those crowds. In another post, I’ll talk about why I think crowds have changes so drastically in the last 20 years and how, really, we are kind of to blame. But hey, we love Disneyland and that’s why the parks are more crowded than ever!
Like postage, it seems that once a year, Disney Parks raise their prices and that time has come once again. Here’s their new pricing structure:
Disneyland Resort Ticket Options
Ticket
Ages 10+
Ages 3-9
5-Day Park Hopper
$300
$279
5-Day 1-Park Per Day
$265
$244
4-Day Park Hopper
$285
$265
4-Day 1-Park Per Day
$250
$230
3-Day Park Hopper
$260
$244
3-Day 1-Park Per Day
$225
$209
2-Day Park Hopper
$210
$197
2-Day 1-Park Per Day
$175
$162
1-Day Park Hopper
$137
$131
1-Day 1-Park
$92
$86
All multi-day tickets expire 13 days after first use.
Disneyland Resort Annual Passports
Premium
$669
Deluxe
$499
Southern California*
$359
Southern California Select*
$279
Annual Passport Block-Out Day Ticket
$84
*Valid proof of Southern California residency required for purchase and use.
Disney Premier Passport
Disney Premier Passport
$979
Theme Park Parking
Auto/ Motorcycle
$16
Oversized Vehicles/ Motor Homes/ Tractors w/o Trailers
$21
Buses/ Tractor w/ Extended Trailers
$26
Annual Passport Parking Pass
$139
What do you think about this annual practice? Is the increase of AP events keeping you coming back for more? What about those of you with Premiere passes? $130 is quite the hike but you’re getting unlimited access to the parks for a whole year.
The Disney Parks seem to also continuously push back their 20%-off deals for AP’s and are increasing the frequency and availability for AP exclusive events. Disney seems to stand by their value and they have been feverishly adding new areas and exciting attractions. It seems to be a Catch-22 as well as a probable solution to the saturated AP market. Luckily they have that amazing 0% interest monthly payment plan to keep it manageable.
Will you be renewing your pass this next year or might you consider downgrading or even not renewing? The new prices take effect tomorrow, June 2, 2013. Might be worth a trip to the park just to renew early!
The wife and I just booked our trip to Japan, which I will gush about in future posts but today has been replete with Mystic Manor news, announcements, updates, and now: A VIDEO!
This looks absolutely incredible and yet another trackless ride system from Disney’s Imagineering team! I had never even heard of trackless ride systems until researching our Tokyo Disneyland trip but now this is something I KNOW we need here in the US parks. Robert told me that TOT in Florida is a trackless system which I had no clue but these have come quite a way in 20 years!
I am surprised it’s in English although I have done little to no study on the overseas parks. Disneyland Resort Paris had a few rides that offered an English experience and Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea parks seem to be mainly in Japanese (with the option of picking up “story papers” at City Hall.) Also, Danny Elfman’s score is a fitting choice for this attraction and it offers a great new soundtrack for those attraction audiophiles out there!
Mystic Manor is China’s first foray into the Haunted Mansion-type attraction. However, from what I can tell and have heard, ghosts are a big taboo in China so the imagineers thought up a clever workaround using a cute, mischievous, and marketable monkey and a mysterious music box that is a recent addition to Lord Henry’s collection of antiquities.
Mystic Manor at Hong Kong Disneyland’s new Mystic Point area officially open to the public May 17, 2013.
Details. Details. Details. Disneyland is all about the details. One might think when starting a project from scratch that uniformity is key to telling a narrative story. When I cut a video, I need to make sure that all the graphics flow, fonts match, sizes match and are aesthetically pleasing. The key to my work is not to be noticed. Disney took this to the next level when creating a park with many different lands, messages, and simultaneous stories.
Today, I’d like to point out the amazing signage at the park. In just under 20 minutes, I captured so many different signs in the park. From Tomorrowland restrooms to New Orleans Square, one is bombarded by messages pointing in one direction or another. These signs are so perfectly themed that one might not even notice them.
Baby Changing Station
I don’t know what it is but these 19th century signs just make my day. Super simple and unique yet effective. It really matches the theme of the First Aid and Lost and Found offices over on Main Street USA which is also modeled after a late 19th century town. This sign was found in Tomorrowland but draws the connection to this particular storyline.
My Favorite Restroom Signage 1My Favorite Restroom Signage 2
These restrooms look almost untouched since 1955. They’re tucked away between Innoventions, Autopia, and the Tomorrowland train station. Starting with the signage up top, I think it’s the yellowing of the plastic sign, the font size and shape as well as font color that give it away. In addition to its tucked-away nature, I like to think that this building looks just as it did when the park first opened (even though its adjacent attraction, Carousel of Progress, didn’t open until 1967.)
The lower sign suggests a future when alien and human life might live together. I particularly love the Women’s signage as the taller alien woman looks to be wearing a dress but upon further inspection, she’s got some kind of tentacle/scale motif going on. Nice touch. Even the alien language here continues the theme in a more cerebral way. By far one of my favorite park details.
Speaking of Autopia…
Check out this Autopia sign in Tomorrowland. Complete with pistons supporting the letters and a checkered flag, one could see this sign without knowing there was a ride and “get it.” Ingenious.
No dancing!
There are plenty uses of this sign around the park. The first time I noticed it was on Haunted Mansion and it was pointed out by a buddy of mine. Since then, I have noticed it in every park I have been to. While it’s standard safely protocol and less about the imagineers trying to tell a story, storytelling seems to be inherent in the guests now as we make our own stories for standard signage. We like to think that one must remain seated and not dance on the rides. Seems to stand true, in a sense.
“Welcome, foolish mortals…”
From the font to the color scheme, the imagineers nailed it with this attraction. The wait-time board matches the attraction signage which matches the look and feel of the attraction. And, while I could have desaturated the colors in this photo and made it look more cold and “scary,” I chose to really keep it true to how it appears in person because even then, the sign itself “betrays an aura of foreboding…” The imagineers hit a home-run with this attraction’s signage and trend-setting font.
We miss you, Country Bears!
Finally, we take a look at a reference to an old attraction. The Country Bear Jamboree, while gone from Critter Country at Disneyland, is alive in plenty of references throughout the current Critter Country. Even the Winnie the Pooh attraction has some of the old animatronics from the old show. But in this sign from the Hungry Bear restaurant, we see our cast of misfit critters thanking us for visiting. Not sure if the kids will get it but it still fits within the theme of the land and parents will get a smile remembering the attraction that used to be. Luckily, the parents can still take a trip to Walt Disney World and show their kids a version of the show that still operates daily in Frontierland.
While we only touch on some of the great signage, take a look around next time you’re at the parks. There are details all around you that you may take for granted — and that’s their job!
I was recently sent a follow-up survey for August’s Glow With The Show with Fantasmic! event. It was super short and I was confused about what the point was until I was put into a live-chat situation. While near the end I realized that this was being conducted by a 3rd party forDisney, it was still super fun to chat with someone in a very conversational way about Disneyland Parks, Glow With The Show plans, etc.
Here’s what transpired in that chat:
You are now connected to: Brianna Brianna: Hi and thank you very much for chatting with me today. I’d like to talk to you about ‘Glow with the Show’ ear hats. Guest: Sure Brianna: To get started, what would you say about your experience with your ‘Glow with the Show’ ear hat? What was it like? How did you feel? Guest: I love the technology of the show and seeing a complete sea of hats is absolutely an incredible sight. Guest: Another of my favorite features is that the hat turns OFF inside dark rides like Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion Brianna: 🙂 Tell me more about what makes the technology so appealing for you… Guest: I wish all glowing items (swords, necklaces, bracelets, toys) had that same technology. Guest: Seeing all the colors and patterns in sync with the music really plusses the show for me Brianna: How do you feel during one of these shows? Guest: Fantasmic! brings the goosebumps for sure. I’ll admit I got a little tear-y eyed with the premiere event and seeing all the hats in sync with the music. I had already seen the effect with the World of Color and didn’t think I would like it any better with Fantasmic! but it really nailed it for me Brianna: What do you think Fantasmic! did that really ‘nailed it’ for you, if you could pinpoint it? Brianna: *did differently Guest: The music lends itself to an epic light display. As an AP, I kind of had expectations for what it might be like and it was that and more. I mean, the show area is so much smaller than the World of Color area so I thought it might be a bust, but it REALLY is incredible because it’s more of a horseshoe shape so seeing the ears near the Golden Horseshoe all the way from near The Haunted Mansion brings a whole other element I hadn’t anticipated. It really distinguishes the show’s setting with the edges of the rivers of america. In a normal show, you’re very much looking forward at the show the whole time, which I suppose is the point. But with the Glow with the Show, it’s like you’re IN the show, so you’re looking there, you’re looking next to you, behind you, left, right, all around you. Brianna: Thank you sooo much for that detail! 🙂 And what do you like about the hat turning off inside dark rides? Guest: Let’s be honest, the only thing more annoying than people reciting the Ghost Host’s dialogue in the stretching portrait room are those light-up toys. When I first heard about GWTS, I worried that there would be MORE light pollution and thought to myself, that technology should work both ways — control the timing for shows and extinguish the lights for moments like that. I try to ride the rides as if everyone else in the room is on it for the first time. The effect is lost on Pirates and Mansion (and more) when you see someone’s light saber or necklace blinking all over the place. Brianna: Understandable! Now, I see that you had some issues with the design of the hat. Tell me more about that… Guest: Well it reminds me of Glowfest which wasn’t the most elegant. I just am not a huge fan of the black-light coloring style — especially since I don’t know of any current use of blacklights with those hats. It’s just an aesthetics thing. When the technology allows for smaller receivers in the hats, I wouldn’t mind if every hat had the technology. Even if it were in the form of LEDs as opposed to an entire ear lighting up (although that may not be as dramatic for shows) Brianna: Just to be clear, when you talk about the ‘black-light coloring style’, to which part of the hat are you referring? Guest: Sorry, the fabric on the “dome” portion of the hat. Guest: that’s the only part I am not crazy about. I wouldn’t have bought it probably were it not for the tech Brianna: Got it; thanks 🙂 That said, how would a different design make you feel about the ‘Glow with the Show’ ear hats? Guest: Like I said, I wouldn’t mind if every hat I have had the technology! I would love more designs for sure! I am not a huge fan of the Mad-T Party but I know people that are and would flock to a limited edition GWTS hat for that event since it utilizes the tech Guest: Same with a Sorcerer’s Apprentice hat for Fantasmic or a WoC hat Brianna: That would be cool! And how (if at all) would a different design affect how often you would wear your hat? Guest: I would probably forget it at home more often. To be honest, I don’t wear hats that often, I just display the ones I love at home (club 33, paris 15th, dland 50th) although I’ll bet if I could get it embroidered, that might make a difference. Brianna: Tell me more about the difference it would make if you could get it embroidered… Guest: Well, if I could get it embroidered, it makes the hat more personal which would make me more inclined to wear it. Right now, my hat looks exactly like everyone else’s. If I were to drop it in a crowd, it’d be indistinguishable from anyone else’s. Brianna: You’ve had some great ideas specific to people’s interests… What other types of designs would you want to see, personally? Guest: Sorcerer’s Apprentice for Fantasmic! for SURE Brianna: How about for the dome portion of the hat? Guest: Keep it standard like the regular sorcer’s apprentice hats which I believe are just black felt. Outside of the ears lighting up, I don’t care that my hat looks like a GWTS hat in the daylight Guest: I love the idea of any hat being GWTS in the future so there needs to be no real advertising it as such on the ones that are — if that makes any sense Brianna: It does 🙂 In your opinion, how many different designs should there be? Brianna: (with the current ears, that is) Brianna: Sorry, let me rephrase that… how many designs for the dome should there be with the current Glow Ears? Guest: I think 3. A MTP version, A WoC version, and a Fantasmic! version Guest: Each themed after their perspective shows. I kind of consider the Genie the mascot of WoC and a Genie themed dome would be neat, I think but not sure that’s indicative of the entire show, really. Brianna: Ok. And aside from the embroidery, which of these design options would encourage you to own and wear more than one pair of Glow Ears? Guest: What do you mean? Like if there were a Genie themed one and a Sorcer’s Apprentice themed one, would I buy and wear both? Brianna: Yes Guest: ( for example) Guest: Yes. Those two hats in particular I would buy Guest: and wear Guest: and likely give my old ears to a kid somewhere in the park to encourage more participation in the shows Brianna: 🙂 Now switching gears a bit, have you brought your Glow Ears back to the Disneyland Resort since your experience at the AP Fantasmic! Glow with the Show Premiere on Tuesday, August 28? Guest: Not that I can remember. Brianna: Do you think you will take the one you have to the Disneyland Resort again in the future? Please explain why or why not… Guest: Yes and mainly to participate in the shows. Like I said, they’re not my favorite design and I don’t care to advertise the fact that I have them as much as I care to take part in the shows. However, I might only do it if I planned on seeing one of the shows for sure (dinner plan, bringing guests, etc.) There are times I decide to watch the shows spontaneously but I might at that point think “oh, i should have brought the hat” but not think much beyond that Brianna: For you personally, does it matter how much participation from other guests is present at the shows? (that is, how many others have the ears also) Guest: Yes. I saw WoC shortly after the GWTS event and it was kind of a bummer to see it without full participation. It’s SUCH a cool technology I wish people could see that more Brianna: So for you, would you go ahead and bring your Ears when you planned ahead to attend a show (if you didn’t know how much participation would be there)? Guest: Correct. If I planned on seeing the shows for sure as a part of my trip, I wouldn’t think twice about it. Brianna: On that note, you may or may not have attended the New Year’s Eve event at Disneyland Resort. Those wearing their Glow Ears were given ‘2013 clings’ (which are like see-through stickers to put on Glow Ears). What do you think of this special giveaway? Guest: Oh I missed that! Guest: I do remember seeing that offered and we thought about going SPECIFICALLY for that giveaway though Brianna: What kept you from going? Guest: We went last year, I got off work late, and we had guests in town that couldn’t attend Brianna: Bummer! (Just wanted to make sure it didn’t have to do with the ears 🙂 Though it seems obvious from our conversation, how do special perks like this affect your likelihood to bring your Glow Ears back to Disneyland Resort? Guest: In a positive way. I would bring them more and more. For example, if there were a day this year where instead of an extra Disney day, they gave away GWTS ears to regular park guests, I might try to get down just for that day to participate. Or giveaways for previous owners, etc. for sure Brianna: And you may or may not have experienced special viewing areas for those with Glow Ears during the 12/20/12—1/6/13 Fantasmic!, fireworks, and World of Color shows/events at Disneyland Resort. Those wearing their Glow Ears were given access to a special viewing section closer to the action. What do you think of this? Guest: I am super bummed I hadn’t hear about this. I had quite the holiday work load this year. 🙁 WDW, while amazing, really packed the back half of my year! Guest: I think it’s incredible! Guest: It goes with what I said earlier, there’s something incredible seeing the stark darkness of the rivers of america enhanced by the glowing of the ears on the shore. It really outlines the show-space Brianna: And what do you think about guests with Glow Ears receiving this kind of privilege?
Guest: I think it’s incredible and a terrific idea. Although those without them may not like it so much (ie the people that camp out at 3pm (me and my family in ’93) Brianna: True 🙂 Now, how would you describe ‘Glow with the Show’ ear hats to a friend or family member? Guest: oof…. Guest: Depends on how technical they are but I would say that they’re special mouse ears that are controlled by the show and blink on and off with the music and SFX in patterns and colors. All you do is sit back and enjoy and the ears do the work for you. To someone more technical, I might describe how they work which I have tried but I can’t nail it down. I refuse to believe it’s as simple as IR Brianna: Thanks! Now, this is how Disneyland Resort describes them: ‘Glow with the Show’ ear hats are Mickey ears that interact at various points at the Disneyland Resort. At Disneyland Park, Glow Ears interact with Fantasmic!. At Disney California Adventure Park, Glow Ears interact with World of Color and Mad T Party. They also interact in Cars Land at the Cozy Cone Motel, Flo’s V8 Café, and Luigi’s Flying Tires. Brianna: Talk to me about these interaction points. What do you think about them? Do you like them? Why or why not? Guest: Cars Land has always been a cool implementation of it but there’s not much that actually “happens” there other than the neon coming to life at dusk. Other than that it’s more elemental and environmental there. So while a cool feature, probably not AS noteworthy although I knew it was a part of it. I would say that Cars Land is a template for other lands to follow suit but in the grand scheme of things, less important. For musically interactivity like MTP, WoC, and Fantasmic!, it’s a no-brainer. I actually remember saying “I can’t wait until this gets implemented with ‘Remember, Dreams Come True!'” so I am among those ready for more and more implementations around the parks Guest: And while at WDW, I couldn’t stop telling the interested cast members how cool it was if only it had more guest interaction, but the AP events were out of this world Brianna: 🙂 And just to clarify, were you aware of ALL these interaction points mentioned? Guest: Not Flo’s or Luigi’s but yes at Cozy Cone et al Brianna: How interested are you in seeing what happens at Flo’s? Guest: Absolutely! and Luigi’s, although are you suggesting that it’s not as cool? Brianna: Not at all! (I don’t actually know; I’m an independent researcher unaffiliated with Disney) Guest: Ah! Guest: Now you know how crazy we Disney folk are O_O Brianna: 🙂 In addition to the current interaction points, what other venues or entertainment offerings would you like to interact with your ‘Glow with the Show’ ear hat, such as Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, the fireworks, or parades? Brianna: Not crazy, delightful 🙂 Guest: I was bummed when it wasnt (as far as I know) implemented with the Halloween or Christmas time fireworks so I would LOVE to see more of that. I think an implementation with Small World’s “Magic Memories and You” show is a no-braniner and I would love to see that. Also the castle would be great! I am interested in it all! Even Mansion and/or Pirates if implemented correctly but it REALLY has to work well and add to the shows for those rides Brianna: Those are all the questions I have for you. Thank you so much for your time and feedback! Please click “NEXT” to continue…. Have a wonderful rest of your day!!
Pretty neat! How would you have answered some of these? Are there GWTS updates coming soon? We sure hope so!
Yesterday, I posted about an incredible feat of ingiuity and dedication: a shot-for-shot recreation of Pixar’s first feature-length animated film Toy Story. It was so incredible and I was so impressed that I had to reach out to the film-makers themselves to figure out how and why they did it. They were gracious enough to answer the few questions I (and apparently a bunch of other blogs around the interweb) had for them regarding the film:
Remain Seated Please: What inspired you to pull off such a daunting task of recreating a feature-length pixar film, shot for shot?
Jesse Perrotta: I think part of what started the fire in us to make us want to do this was the release of Toy Story 3. The months following the movie’s release, we were in constant Toy Story mode, haha. Also, we wanted make something that would be historical (the first shot-for-shot recreation of an animated film in live action.) Nobody did it before, and we wanted to be the first!
RSP: How long from start to finish did this take?
Jesse: Without counting preparation, it took us almost 2 years to the day (August 2010 to August 2012).
RSP: What film making inspiration did you have (outside of Toy Story, obviously?)
Jesse: It’s hard to think of another answer besides Toy Story, haha. I wasn’t really inspired to do it but anything else
Jonason Pauley: I was also inspired by the kids in the 80s who re-made Raiders of the Lost Ark, the guys who re-made the Goofy Movie song in a similar way… I just loved watching shot-for-shot type low budget re-makes (Be Kind Rewind would have been better if they had more of those type of scenes.)
RSP: What was the most difficult sequence to shoot? 4.) what did you edit this in?
Jesse: I would say the hardest scene was the shot after Buzz jumps on Scud’s face, when Scud is trying to shake Buzz of while the camera is moving away from them. It took us countless takes until Scud finally did what he was supposed to do.
Jonason: For the most part, shooting all day we completed about a minute of the film, but it seemed to take twice as long for the chase scene. Also, working with kids and Scud wasn’t too easy either. It was fun, just not easy.
RSP: What did you shoot this on (camera type?)
Jonason: I filmed with just a normal consumer camcorder. Panasonic HDD (that’s not High Def Delux, that’s Hard Drive Disk)
RSP: What program did you use for editorial?
Jesse: We edited the movie on Adobe Premiere Pro.
Jonason: I did the majority of the editing, like Jesse said, on Adobe, but you, Jesse, edited a scene in Vegas.
RSP: Did you have any “technical advisors” or was a lot of it improvised between the two of you? (ie – stop motion stuff, marionette, puppetry, etc?)
Jesse: It was pretty much all on-the-spot decisions. (e.g., “I can’t get his arms to do what I want. let’s use the wire.”, or, “This shot’s so hard to do! Let’s film it backwards!”) Also, Jonason’s dad would sometimes be around and give us some tips on how to accomplish a certain scene.
Jonason: A.D. is credited as “Technical Expertize” because he resurrected my computer from the dead to a zombie-like state once.
RSP: Is film production a dream of yours?
Jesse: I can answer this for both of us… yes! We definitely want to have careers in film-making. I, personally, would love to compose music for films and television shows.
Jonason: I want to make good movies.
RSP: What’s next for you two?
Jesse: I’m planning on riding this Live Action Toy Story success train for a while, and see where it takes me. I’m also going to be working on a new series called Billy and Chucky (it’s a puppet show.)
Jonason: I’m going to school for a film degree and it doesn’t really matter to me what I do, as long as I have a part in making movies and videos that people will enjoy as much as I do. For now, more internet stuff.
RSP: What has the reception been like? 5.5M* views in just 5 days is unheard-of!
Jesse: I’m so amazed to see how much this movie has been getting attention these past few days! We’re not just popular on Youtube, but it seems like we’re showing up everywhere on the internet! It’s really exciting, and it feels so rewarding to know that people are enjoying it, and watching it with their families
Jonason: I am amazed at how well received it has been as well.
*6.3M as of today!
I had never done an interview before this one but these kids and their project inspired it. Very inspiring seeing what they pulled off and from their points of view, it’d appear that it was also very rewarding.
As I went on and did more homework on these kids, I learned that they took a trip to Emeryville, California with no promise (or success as far as I could tell) of getting in but just to hand out DVD copies of the film to Pixar employees and they were met with a smile from security who seemed to be expecting them. Although Pixar has a history of never commenting on fan-projects (because then we would all do fan-projects), they have received accolades from a few Pixar insiders including Lee Unkrich, director of Toy Story 3!
It also turns out that these are the same kids behind the live-action Toy Story 3 finale released last year which is what first gained the interest of Unkrich as well as 2.6M other viewers since it was released.
These kids have two major viral hits on their hands and we here at Remain Seated Please are glad to be in their corner early-on! To the next few-million hits!
This is something special. From their Facebook page: “‘TS Project’ started production in late June 2010 by Jonason Pauley, (then 17), and Jesse Perrotta (18).” Uploaded just 5 days ago, this 2.5-year-long project was finally uploaded to YouTube and has already garnered 5.5M views!
I am 23 minutes in and just astonished with what these kids pulled off. The Buzz flying scene was quite the feat! While not the prettiest thing, I can’t imagine the techniques they picked up on while making this — coverage, stop motion, reveals, etc. Incredible story-telling school in the span of 2 and a half years — and some crazy dedication.
I’d love to sit down with these guys and hear how they pulled some of this off, their inspirations, and some technical specs! The full feature is embedded below — enjoy!
Last night was the 50th Anniversary of my favorite spot in Los Angeles: The Magic Castle. January 3rd, 1963m Milt and Bill Larsen opened the private magic club in the Rollin B. Lane mansion at Franklin and Orange in the heart of Hollywood, CA. In fact, I would say that The Magic Castle is as close to what The Hollywood Tower Hotel is being touted as in the Tower of Terror library scene – a beacon for the showbiz elite! Richard and Robert Sherman of the Sherman Brothers (It’s A Small World, Mary Poppins, Carousel of Progress, etc.) is one of the very first members of the castle (Richard was in attendance last night!) Carey Grant was on the Board of Directors at one time, establishing the “Carey Grant” rule which still applies today — NO PHOTOGRAPHY INSIDE THE CASTLE! Let’s just say I happened upon these photos from “someone’s” recent trip to the castle.
Imagineer Yale Gracey was a friend of the castle. Yale created many incredible effects at Disneyland including, but not limited to, the Pepper’s Ghost effect – which he had not even read about at the time of its discovery. Meaning he had invented something that, although had been an ancient parlor trick, was an incredible achievement in the world of optical illusion and trickery. It was so impressive that he showed a model to Walt Disney himself demonstrating the effect and thus The Haunted Mansion was born!
That model now lives at the Magic Castle in the wine cellar below the main bar. It has changed positions over its tenure but where it landed was in a hallway of strange and similar parlor tricks. None, however, worked as well as the Pepper’s Ghost model.
Well, last night we ventured down to take a look around and lo and behold, we saw some familiar and new faces to the castle!
The Hatbox Ghost!The Bride!
The Hatbox Ghost and the Bride from The Haunted Mansion! It seems they have transformed this hallway into a sort-of haunted hall. The Hatbox ghost, in case it’s not clear, is guarding an endless hallway of wine bottles (also recently relocated to this hallway). The Bride is where an old Banjo used to sit. There is a big red button to the right that I thought would make the banjo play but it never did in my time there. However, the button remains with this new Bride display and knowing President Neil Patrick Harris*, he may have plans in store for this effect in the future!
These statues stand about 18 – 24 inches tall and look very authentic. If you have any information as to whether they were sold in the parks or from where they came, let us know!
Also notable there was some new signage to go with the haunted-hallway theme.
If you ever get the chance to visit the Magic Castle, be sure to check out the Haunted Wine Cellar. It’s sure to excite even the most casual Disney fan!
* – Yes, THAT Neil Patrick Harris. He is the current president of the Academy of Magical Arts which calls the Magic Castle its home!
