Dinosaur Gertie

Over by Echo Lake in Disney's Hollywood Studios, you'll see this big green dinosaur:

It seems kind of weird - why is there a random dinosaur hanging out in the lake? Upon closer inspection, you see that this is actually an ice cream stand and you're even more confused.

"Dinosaur Gertie's Ice Cream of Extinction" is an example of "California Crazy" architecture. This form of architecture became popular in the 1930's in California (which is why it fits so well into Disney's Hollywood Studios) and the purpose of this form of architecture was to attract attention. Buildings were often (but not always) made to look like what they sold inside:

Another example of "California Crazy" from Disney's Hollywood Studios would be "The Darkroom" on Hollywood Boulevard. This shop, shaped like a camera, is of course your stop for cameras and related photography items.

This goes well beyond a crazy form of architecture though - it is actually a tribute to Winsor McCay and his "Gertie the Dinosaur". In 1914, McCay debuted a unique performance combining vaudeville and a cartoon. Standing on a stage with a projection screen behind him, McCay would interact with his cartoon dinosaur, Gertie. He had his drawings timed out so when he asked the dinosaur to do things like lift its leg, it would. Taking this interaction to another level, he would even throw an apple to Gertie to eat (he achieved this by palming the apple in his hand during the toss). In a grand finale, McCay climbed on top of Gertie by walking off stage just as a cartoon version of himself appeared.

McCoy's live performance was later turned into a moving-picture to be shown in theaters. The film added a backstory to the performance and is about 12 minutes long, with about 5 minutes of the original animation. The only change in the original animation was replacing the apple with a pumpkin. Watch it here:

So the next time you're in Disney's Hollywood Studios, stop by and pay some respect to Gertie and Winsor McCoy for truly paving the way for future animators like Walt Disney.

Also, be on the lookout for Gertie's footprints from where she entered the water!

He's Grrrrreat!

Happy Haunts have materialized all throughout the graveyard in the Haunted Mansion. A few of those spooks make up this iconic scene:

The famous singing busts! As your doom buggy travels through the graveyard, you'll notice these five singing "Grim Grinning Ghosts". Does that bust that has fallen over look familiar? A lot of people think it's Walt Disney, but it's actually Thurl Ravenscroft. You may not know his name, but you certainly know his voice. While he is probably most famous for voicing Kellog's Tony the Tiger ("They're Grrrrreat!"), he also did a lot of work for Disney.

Born in Norfolk, Nebraska in 1914, Thurl decided to move out to Hollywood in 1933. He eventually formed a quartet and became very successful. "The Mellomen" actually backed up the likes of Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley! The group ended up contributing to such Disney films as "Lady and the Tramp", "Alice in Wonderland", and "Cinderella". Thurl also lent his voice to "The Sword in the Stone", "Mary Poppins", and "The Jungle Book" (among others).

Photo From:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier

On top of being, and recording the voice of one of the Haunted Mansion's singing busts, where else can you hear Thurl Ravenscroft in the Disney Parks? How about in It's a Small World, Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Enchanted Tiki Room, and the Country Bear Jamboree! In the Tiki Room, you may recognize his voice as one of your parrot hosts, Fritz. In the Country Bear Jamboree, listen closely to Buff the buffalo. With all of his work for Disney, he was awarded as a Disney Legend in 1995.
Thurl Ravenscroft passed away in 2005 (at the age of 95), but he will certainly be remembered. Be sure to listen for his legendary voice next time you're in a Disney park.

The Lake Buena Vista STOLport

So you're on your way to the Magic Kingdom and, after you pass through the auto plaza, you notice something on your right - it looks like a small, skinny parking lot and construction area. What is this? Why is it there?

Screen Capture from Google Earth

What you see is the Lake Buena Vista STOLport. Believe it or not, Walt Disney World used to have its own private airstrip! A STOLport (STOL standing for Short Take-Off and Landing) was an airport that consisted of a runway less than 5000 feet long. STOLports could only accept certain airplanes (as many could not take off and land on such small runways) and were meant to provide regional transportation. Opening just weeks after the Magic Kingdom, Disney's runway was 2000 feet long and consisted solely of a runway, taxi ramp, and a 4 plane parking lot - there was no terminal building (imagine that in the Florida weather!). Plans to expand were made, but were never realized. Disney made agreements with both Shawnee Airlines and Executive airlines to provide guest transportation to and from a variety of locations in Florida. One of these locations was the Orlando Jetport at McCoy (later renamed Orlando International Airport - now you know where "MCO" comes from). The goal was that guests could fly into a local airport, and then take these smaller planes right into the resort. Unfortunately, both of these airlines went out of business and flights ceased in late 1972. The STOLport didn't service guests for years and seemed doomed with the expansion of MCO in 1981. The final dagger came with the opening of EPCOT Center in 1982 and the expansion of the monorail. The expansion brought the track right in front of the airstrip and, because of safety reasons, airplanes were no longer allowed to land.

For a more detailed look at the Lake Buena Vista STOLport (and some cool pictures), check out this article over at Progress City.

Tower of Terror Moroccan?

Is the Tower of Terror Moroccan? Of course not! It's that creepy hotel up in the Hollywood Hills!  According to backstory, the hotel was established in 1917 and was hit by lightning during a freak storm, on Halloween, in 1939.  Of course, regardless of the backstory, we know that the attraction opened in 1994 in Disney-MGM Studios (renamed Disney's Hollywood Studios in 2008).  So what does this have to do with Morocco? Well, Imagineers pride themselves on their attention to detail. If you stand in Epcot, in World Showcase, and look across at the Morocco Pavilion (which opened in 1984), you will see the spooky hotel off in the distance.

http://orlandoparksnews.blogspot.com

When designing the Tower of Terror, the Imagineers had to take this into consideration. You'll notice that the architecture style and color of the Tower of Terror blend in well with the Morocco Pavilion. Those Imagineers think of everything!

Welcome to Our Show

While thinking of how to welcome you to this blog, my mind went to how Disney welcomes you into their parks. Designing Disneyland (and later the Florida Project) was a huge and obvious challenge for Walt Disney and his team at WED enterprises (later renamed Imagineering). One challenge was that they were now designing for the 3D world - where as before it was for animation and film. Based on their knowledge and skills, it comes as no surprise that WED (standing for Walter Elias Disney) brought aspects of film-making into their designs. The entrance to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World is the perfect example of this.

The Magic Kingdom is considered a show. This show is performed for guests everyday with the assistance of cast members (not workers). So how does the Magic Kingdom welcome you to it's show? By rolling out the red carpet of course!
Just like a Hollywood premier, Disney rolls out the red carpet for its guests. Ok, so it's not really a red carpet, its pavement... but the red is what counts right?! Red carpets have been used as a sign of hospitality and for welcoming VIPs for hundreds of years.

After passing through the turnstiles, you will be standing right in front of the Walt Disney World Railroad. Notice anything? Or rather, do you not notice anything? When creating a movie, film-makers have ultimate control over what the audience sees. This power can allow for big reveals where the audience is shown something for the first time. So what don't you see? It's Cinderella Castle! At 189 feet tall, the castle is pretty hard to hide, but WED did a darn good job at it. Of course, you can see the castle from farther back, but once you enter the turnstiles, its almost impossible. Pretty good design of the train station huh? WED is setting you up for that ultimate reveal (which will take place later).

To enter the park, guests need to walk through breezeways which pass underneath the railroad station. Inside the breezeways, you'll notice posters hanging on the walls. These are the "coming soon" posters! Movie theaters all over the world have posters that showcase what is coming soon. These posters help to build anticipation of what movie the viewer might want to see next. Just like the theaters, the Magic Kingdom is advertising attractions that are "coming soon" (I put that in quotations, because the posters represent attractions that are already built, not ones that are currently being developed). A few of the posters you might see are for attractions such as: Pirates of the Caribbean, The Walt Disney World Railroad, Space Mountain, and (most recently) the Sunshine Tree Terrace. There are a few more, so go check them out when you get a chance! There are also posters that have been made, that do not appear here - you can view a lot of them online.

So Disney has rolled out the red carpet for you and told you about upcoming attractions, now its time to enter and view the "show". After you pass through the breezeway, you are transported into a turn of the century Main Street. You'll notice that you still can't see the caste... As you approach the center of town square, Exposition Hall (or the Confectionery depending on which way you enter) will give way for that big reveal:

Welcome to our show.