JimB.
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
Went on a 7 Day cruise on the Magic last week, and Jerold Kaplan, A principal engineer with The Imagineering Show & Ride Group (not to be confused with Theme Park Operations RIDE & SHOW Group ........... seriously) was on board. He gave a nice "behind the scenes" talk about the goings on @ WDW and here is some of what he said.
Be advised............... NO earth-shattering news here.
Mission: Space - - On schedule for a 2003 openeing. 4 1/2 minute ride, up to 30 seconds of "G" forces at a time. NOT a roller coaster.
Mickey's Philharmagic - Also on schedule (maybe a bit ahead) for opening within the next year. 480 seat capacity.
Master Plan for the Property has room for 7 theme parks mapped out (although no plans to exceed the present 4 exist in any form).
JIYI is back open after being re-engineered to include Figment & the mind-numbing song is back too. The audience was particularly happy about this one.
MGM - No firm plans on whether the "Big Hat" will stay after the 100 Years of Magic Celebration. It was built to stay. He said that everything must be built "permanently" to withstand possible high winds and heavy weather, but that does not mean it WILL stay. Additionally - the "big hat" was originally conceived to be TWICE as big as it is, with mini-ferris wheels in the ears, but the scale was thought to be too overpowering to fit appropriately.
Alien Encounter - Bit of history here........ At trial openings in December 1994, was NOT well recieved. They were given 4 months to "fix it". 6 special effects were added to the seats to jazz things up, & some other effect changes were made. Basic story line was unchanged, however. Urban Legends about M.E. saying "make it scarier" or "tone it down" are untrue.
Rocket Rods at DL - Surprisingly, admitted they were a maintenance nightmare and a "bad idea". A member of the audience stated that he thought they were very popular, and always had a wait line. Jerold admitted that, yes, they were popular, but said that most of the time the line was due to the ride being broken.
20K Lagoon - No plans. Not even anything reasonably firm in the "idea" stage. He said it was such a "prime" location, they want to be sure that the "Right thing" is done in that area, and that they are not going to put something in that is not "top of the line" (but you figure in 10 years, somebody could have thought of something........ geez)
AK - Just an overview of the Dino-Rama area. No word about "Beastly Kingdom"..
Pop Century Resort - NO opening date set. Construction is STILL underway, but at a slower pace than before 9-11. He showed some photos of the areas completed, and frankly I think it looks kinda'cool (in a bad LSD trip kind of way.......). Will probably do well with the "small-child" set, but I really don't think those that stay at the GF will be beating down the doors to get there.........
That's all I wrote down.
Be advised............... NO earth-shattering news here.
Mission: Space - - On schedule for a 2003 openeing. 4 1/2 minute ride, up to 30 seconds of "G" forces at a time. NOT a roller coaster.
Mickey's Philharmagic - Also on schedule (maybe a bit ahead) for opening within the next year. 480 seat capacity.
Master Plan for the Property has room for 7 theme parks mapped out (although no plans to exceed the present 4 exist in any form).
JIYI is back open after being re-engineered to include Figment & the mind-numbing song is back too. The audience was particularly happy about this one.
MGM - No firm plans on whether the "Big Hat" will stay after the 100 Years of Magic Celebration. It was built to stay. He said that everything must be built "permanently" to withstand possible high winds and heavy weather, but that does not mean it WILL stay. Additionally - the "big hat" was originally conceived to be TWICE as big as it is, with mini-ferris wheels in the ears, but the scale was thought to be too overpowering to fit appropriately.
Alien Encounter - Bit of history here........ At trial openings in December 1994, was NOT well recieved. They were given 4 months to "fix it". 6 special effects were added to the seats to jazz things up, & some other effect changes were made. Basic story line was unchanged, however. Urban Legends about M.E. saying "make it scarier" or "tone it down" are untrue.
Rocket Rods at DL - Surprisingly, admitted they were a maintenance nightmare and a "bad idea". A member of the audience stated that he thought they were very popular, and always had a wait line. Jerold admitted that, yes, they were popular, but said that most of the time the line was due to the ride being broken.
20K Lagoon - No plans. Not even anything reasonably firm in the "idea" stage. He said it was such a "prime" location, they want to be sure that the "Right thing" is done in that area, and that they are not going to put something in that is not "top of the line" (but you figure in 10 years, somebody could have thought of something........ geez)
AK - Just an overview of the Dino-Rama area. No word about "Beastly Kingdom"..
Pop Century Resort - NO opening date set. Construction is STILL underway, but at a slower pace than before 9-11. He showed some photos of the areas completed, and frankly I think it looks kinda'cool (in a bad LSD trip kind of way.......). Will probably do well with the "small-child" set, but I really don't think those that stay at the GF will be beating down the doors to get there.........
That's all I wrote down.
