Saturday, October 8, 2011

The Future of Imagineering Season 2, Project 1. My Entry

This is a contest I am currently competing in over at Mice Chat.  Check it out here....

http://micechat.com/forums/disneyland-resort/159773-future-imagineering-season-2-project-1-a.html#post1056642779

OFFICIAL ENTRY OF DWD Imagineer.

-Project 1, refurb of Red Rocket's Pizza Port
-DWD Imagineering

Greetings Friends. After a long refurbishment of the old Red Rocket's Pizza Port we are proud to reopen tomorrowlands prime food service property in its new form.


WEDway Port Authority.
BASIC SUMMARY
-Retains space port theme, however now looks like a cafeteria in a space port.
-Quick Service Dining in mostly the same way as its old incarnation.
-Retains Italian food mix.
-Expanded menu and serving stations.
-Added premium beverage station with service windows added for additional outside service.
-Made to order items added with deli style "now serving" LED screens to let you know your food is ready.
-Expanded food portions (including more generous sauce, protein items, salads, and larger pizza slices)
-Increased prices to offset show elements, and larger portions (this location only, no price changes in the rest of the park)
-Expanded indoor seating with added barriers to reduce noise
-Complete Retheme and expanded dome roof for 2nd floor seating
-Exterior remains relatively the same with color changes and night time enhancements.
-Added show elements in the form of space windows.
-Music soundtrack similar to space mountain queue.
-Monitors added to the center pillar of the restaurant for "anouncements, commercials" in a similar way of space mountain queue/alien encounter.
-Recessed spot lighting in dining rooms, with soft blue neon recessed in walkways remenicient to original tomorrowland.


....and now for more details!

Starting first with a VERY crude microsoft paint of the layout of the first floor (2nd floor is similar only no food service stands). The DWD Imagineering team is located in Orlando Florida and drew this on a plane in a rush to get to Disneyland to scope out the specs of the building and drew all information from blogs, website pictures, and youtube videos. Meg decided that our team diddnt need to see the location first hand...so long story short. Here it is.



I will be referring to this caveman style drawing often.

I am going to start with the interior as the exterior did not change all that much and it may make more sense to talk about the exterior last after hearing the changes inside.

The entrance (bottom) is now off to the side to block out some of the light as the interior will have no real exterior windows. The walls in this wide yet short hallway will have wording listed with arrows much like directional signs in a "space port". Such words on the wall will include (but not limited to);
- <----Port Cafeteria
- ^ Transit to connecting flights
- Area 33 RESTRICTED ACCESS (with its arrow pointing in the general direction of club 33)
- <----Arrival and Departures Viewing Lounge
- Plasma Phone Parking Lot------>
- v Danerous Cargo RESTRICTED ACCESS

This brings us to the front doors that are dark tinted and shaped more like a space door (think of a hexagon design) that open automatically. The dark tinted windows further keep the bright sunlight out as once we get inside it is supposed to feel like a space station, not an earth/planet bound station.

PORT CAFETERIAThe entry room is where the food stations are all located. This pretty much just like the original Pizza Port style of getting your food from different stations. The food in each is slighly different and in other ways completely different. This room is to look almost like a mall food court but with a futureistic theme. 5 Major intergalactic food chains have moved in each with a different kind of food or course. (still remaining italian). Referring back to the map you will see 5 purples circles with numbers, these are the food stations. To the left of these stations is an area shaded in yellow, that is the back kitchen. Many of the food will be cooked directly in the stations but some things will need prep and so on. To explain the different food stations (and their back story) I will refer to each one starting with their number and explanation and menu



.1) Intergalactic Tiki BarThe intergalactic Tiki Bar started on planet earth as a local dive bar on the main Island of Hawaii. The popularity of its blended drinks and local coffee is what put it on the map on plaent Earth. After space travel became commonplace the company found other exotic planets in which to open, mainly in existing vacation resorts, and has now expanded its locations to most space stations around the Galaxy. In their quest for beverage dominance they are now second only to Starbucks.

THE MENU:
Exotic Coffee and Tea (standard park prices)-
Espreso
-Cappuccino
-Flavored Lattes (Mocha, Caramel, Caramel Mocha, White Chocolate, Hazelnut, and Coconut. Peppermint, Pumpkin, Eggnog, and Butter Rum are all seasonal)
-All of the above also come in iced
-Iced Tea (Regular, Decaf, Peach, Passionfruit, and swet available)
Blended Drinks (note....these are all premium and more expensive as they use real fruit)-Strawberry Smoothie
-Pina Colada (pineapple coconut)
-Rasberry Smoothie
-Peach Smoothie
-Mango Smoothie
-Frozen Lemonade (regular, strawbery, or raspberry)
Signature Beverage-Alien Dole Whip.
Good news Dole Whip Fans! Tomorrowland just got its own version of the very popular Dole Whip. The Alien Dole Whip. The drink is mostly Identical to the regular Dole Whip but with a different look and flavor. The Alien Dole Whip is watermelon flavored and is very neon green in color. The float version uses a highly carbonated sour mix(squirt/sundorp) and has a murkey translucent appearance. This adds a different dimention to the Whip on top and even adds texture due to the carbonation. As time passes by the murkey liquid slowly turns neon green adding to its mystique. During opening day of the Intergalactic Tiki Bar guests will receive a limited edition (opening day only, and limited amount were made) souvenir ceramic space tiki glass similar to the concept below.


DESIGN AND CONCEPT ART FOR INTERGALACTIC TIKI BARThe Tiki Bar is counter service and works much like your local coffee house. Order on the left pickup on the right. The back section of the service area opens up and extends out of the building (still inside just an exterior jet out of the building designed from the outside to look like its own stand but really is connected to the building itself). This allows beverages to be purchased outside keeping the dining crowd and the refreshment only crowds separate and at more tolerable levels. The exterior design is futuristic yet with tropical flair. The counter service area is covered so when standing in line you would have to be 6-8 people deep before you are uncovered in the California sunshine. This enclosed "tiki room" will have futuristic tiki statues that are only visible once you are inside the small covered area. This also helps sheild the artwork and any statue art from clashing with the tomorrowland exteriors.
Some concept artwork for the feel of this food stand;







Lastly the exterior night time feature will show futuristic torches on top of the stands roof that actually light up and each one in a different futuristic feeling color. Similar to the picture below.



....brinigng us to the next food stand in the service area


.2) Blastoff Landings Blastoff landings actually started as a small Space-Truck company (similar to a food truck on earth) that served a humanoid community that stands on average 1/3rd smaller than humans. The portions they eat did not need to be full entrees. This small humanoid race (green in color and very much in the "little green men" appearance to most of our stereotypical alien styles) also has to have high sugar levels in order to survive. This stand did not fare so well early on in their intergalacitc franchises due to small portions of the food items, however the desserts did remarkably well. With one small change to the name of their entrees on a distant planet called earth the demand for this food change exploded. What is the name change to their food entrees that made them so successful you ask? Simple, they changed it to Appetizers.

THE MENU: Appetizers-Breadsticks with Marinara Sauce (unchanged from Pizza Port)
-Cheese stuffed Jalepeno Poppers
-Fried Cheese Triangles
-Garlic Toast (with or without cheese)
-Fried Calamari
-Spicy Buffalo Wings

THE MENU: Desserts-Molten Lava Cake (bunt cake with a caramel and fudge sauce in the center...visually like a volcano)
-Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake Bites (small sqares of lemon cheesecake with a rasberry purree dipping sauce)
-Star Crispies (unchanged from the rice crispy treats currently offered)
-Strawberries and Chocolate. (fresh strawberries with a white and chocolate dipping sauces)
-Celebration Cake (pretty much just like a store marble birthday cake slice)
-Fruit Jello (flavors and fruit change daily)
-Fresh and Hot Chocolate chip cookies (kept warm for service)
-Cinnamon Roll Bites (with frosting dipping sauce)



CONCEPT ARTWORKThe station has mainly artwork of space ships blasting off from exotic locations allowing a smooth transition from the exotic feeling tiki station to this one.









3) Pizza Port
Ahh yes a nod to Red Rocket's. This station retains its Pizza port name and some items from the menu. The backstory is the same as the Red Rockets Pizza Port and holds similar artwork for this station. Take note from the picture that #2 Blastoff Landings is actually located right next to #1 Intergalactic Tiki bar and left of the prep/back kitchen doorways. This leaves this station directly to the rigth of the door to the back kitchen opening and allows for a chiminey for the pizza ovens.

One major thing to note is now the pizza is completely different. Behind the service station is 3 large wood pizza ovens where each opening is in the shape of a distant colorful planet. Chefs cook pizza in these ovens constantly and with the new pizza dough gives it a more "artisan" style of pizza. Each pizza by the slice is cut into large rectangles giving each "slice" the value of 2 slices from the original Pizza Port. Pizza port will now become Disneylands gourmet pizza


.THE MENU (note these prices are inflated due to larger portions/proteins)
-
Pizza By the Slice (Cheese, Pepperoni, Veggie, 3 meat <pepperoni, beef, sausage>, BBQ Chicken, and chicken alfredo)
-Whole Pizza (Made to order. Choose from all common pizza types from Hawaiian to White/Spinach Pizza. Each pizza takes approx. 15 minutes to make and will be charged for the pizza directly at this counter and given a Number that will appear in LED Screens around the building when your pizza is ready to come back and pick up. Must have receipt to retreive your pizza.) The whole pizza option also did not change in price and is a larger square thin crust pizza. It can easily feed a family of 4 and is a better price deal than ordering by the slice.
-Breadsticks with marinara (stuffed with cheese and loaded with garlic)
-Kids Slice Pizza (half of a normal slice served with seasonal fruit, baby carrots, and a fun straw with choice of beverage)


Sorry no real concept art as it will use some things from the old building



4) Purple Planet Pasta (say that 3 times fast)
Purple planet pasta started in a very very distant planet. It is often called the Italy planet due to pasta being the world wide food base in every culture. Purple Planet Pasta is located in every galaxy known to man (and to most aliens). The intimate feel of the restaurants and high level of service is what keep people coming back. Eyeing the success of Pizza Planet and its counter service domination they decided to ge into the counter service market and this location is was their beta test stand and is now their flagship counter service food stand of the galaxy.

THE MENU:***All pastas are now Alien Altered (meaning half of the pasta is spinach pasta and can be all white pasta by request as well as any pasta can be substituted for another kind)
-Chicken Fusilli (you didnt think this would go away did you? now with your choice of grilled or breaded chicken. Same pasta)
-Linguini Marinara
-Linguini Marinara with Meatballs or sausage.
-Chicken Pesto (grilled or breaded chicken and penne pasta)
-Chicken Carbonara (Chicken, Peas, and bacon with a penne pasta)
-Chicken Parmesan (grilled or breaded, comes with side order of spaghetti marinara)
-Meatball Sub (with choice of chips)
-Sausage and Peppers sub (with choice of chips)
-Sausage and Pepperoni Lasagne (this is made to order family style only. Similar to the whole pizza you must pay directly at this counter to receive your pickup ticket and your number will appear on the LED screens when your order is ready). (comes with 4 breadsticks and can be cut into 4 generous portions or 6 normal sized portions)
-Side Pasta (pasta accomp. dish with marinara or alfreado made with spaghetti)
-Kids Pasta (choice of butter parmesean, alfredo, or marinara. Served with seasonal fruit, baby carrots, and fun straw with kids drink)



Concept Artwork for the Puple Planet Pasta station.Most of the art on the walls around this station are of the home purple planet very art gallery style.







5)Green GoddessGreen Goddess hails from a nearyby galaxy that has similar conditions as Earth. This galaxy, however, has 2 suns and the planet has 13 moons that circle this gigantic planet that makes Jupiter pale in its size. The entire planet is covered in rainforest like jungles and the occupants have found a harmony between nature and science. Heavily advanced in technology and terraforming to keep its planet green and lush. The planet also hails as a high priced vacation destination with many beutiful tours and ruins to keep its visitors busy. The local planetary cuisine is all vegetation based (salads etc) and reflects that in its restaurants. The name of the company was crafted after the moon goddess and the early huminoid thought that the moons were made of green cheese (similar to our early stories...only they have 13 of them!)

THE MENU:- Ceasar (with or without chicken. homemade croutons. signature dressing made in house)
-Cobb Salad (grilled chicken or shrimp, carrots, tomatoes, egg, avocados, tossed in a balsamic vinagrette)
-Stellite Salad (same as before, signature salad of the day. Changes daily)
-Fresh Spinach Salad(with roasted chicken, bacon dressing, and pecans)
-Asian Chicken Salad (same as before adding crispy rice noodles)
-Greek Salad(feta cheese, kalamatta olives, tomatoes and a greek oil based dressing )
-Ranch Salad (ranch dressing, bacon bits, grilled chicken, tomatoes)
-Southwestern Salad (grilled chicken, corn, tomatoes, black beans, cilantro, in a peanut cilantro dressing topped with tortilla crunchies)
-Pizza Salad (same as before)
-BBQ Chicken Salad (grilled chiken, corn, black beans, tomatoes, avocado in a bbq ranch dressing topped with onion crunchies)
-The Green Goddess (signature salad. Romaine lettuce, bean sprouts, roasted chicken, carrots, zuccini, avocado, kalamatta olives, homemade croutons and a lite green goddess dressing made in house).
-Side Salad (small salad accomp. with tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, homemade croutons, and choice of dressing)
-Side Ceaser (small accomp Ceasar salad)
-Soups of the Day (changes daily 3 varieties. cup, bowl, or bread bowl)


Concept artwork on the walls examples:Green Goddess will have pictures and murals behind the counter celebrating the Goddess of the Moons.










After visiting the 5 stations there is a large round counter in the middle of the room (not pictured on the crude drawing) where you will find Soda Options (free large soda with any adult item orderd from Pizza Planet, Purple Planet Pasta, and Green Goddess....not including side dishes.) Kids meals come with a free kid soda or juice box received at checkout. This area also contains parmesan, crushed red pepper, straws, silverware, napkins etc.



Leaving the soda station that brings us back to the crude mape where you see the orange diamonds. these are the cashier stations.

After the Cashier stations you see 2 green ovals ahead of you. These are 2 large elevators that lead upstairs (handicapp accessable). Inside the elevators you have "windows" much like the space mountain windows with a star scene that move when you move (like the queue at WDW). The elevators are not enclosed and are seen moving outside of the building much like some vegas hotels. The exterior are designed to look (and reads) "Escape Pod" from the outside looking like escape pods about to launch as they go to the second floor giving some new tomorrowland atmosphere.


Arrivals and Departures viewing lounge (the main dining room).Alas we have our food trays and now need to hunt for a table. This is the main dining room eating area. The center of the room is a large thick pillar with a starlike pattern. This is the large green star on the map. It has tubes and blinking lights and other such spaceship/station type of gimmicks. From each point in the star is a wall like structure that curves out and gradually gets smaller until it is waist high and stops in the dining room. This breaks up some of the noise as well as hides each window from view limiting the number of windows you see giving you a different dining experience each time you go. The booths line these walls and the rest of the dining room is tables (very crudely and not accurately depicted on the map as the black squares. When first entering there is a sloping path to your left leading to the second floor dining area. This stairwell aslo goes above some of the prep kitchen that is not depicted on the map.


.Concept art (to give you a feel of the colors and mood of the room)









This leads us to...

Main Dining room first floor SHOW ELEMENTS.
The DWD Imagineering team wanted to make this into an attraction of sorts. Each blue line depicted on the crude map is a space port window. Each window is sunken in several feet and is panoramic in view. Each window is broken up like a houshold window and this hides that each window is actually 4 high tech LCD video screens. Each "window" is around 12 feet wide and 10 feet tall. This should give each table a good view of the window(s) they face. The static scene that is portrayed is of a large walking space leading out to a space port for any size spaceship to park and exit the craft onto the landings that go right up to the window. Off each side of each window is to be imagined where people/aliens getting on and off their craft enter the space port. Each day a planet is depicted in the dinstance but large enough to make a visual impression and that planet color/shape/rings etc changes daily and remains static each day. The entire visual process is done with CGI and any actors used in the scenes are done either CGI or Green Screen. Computers randomize each ship/scene happening and takes hours before any scene is repeated (as time goes on and new scenes are added it is hoped that no scene is ever repeated each day and with even more time some scenes may not have time to show each day creating a unique experience with each meal enjoyed in the Port). Show elements (on both floors) are also able to have a holiday overlay adding special seasonal scenes as well as things added to the exterior landscape as easy as clicking a checkbox on the computer that runs the screens. One leap of faith the imagineers are asking is that some humans will be walking out on the ledge in mid space and not wearing any protective clothing. It is meant to be fun and most cases light hearted and having everyone wearing protective space masks limits the scenes.

WINDOW SCENES:Each window will have random scenes that happen from time to time with time inbetween showing only the static space port scene that never changes. This is all randomized by computer and will never show the same scene at the same time in 2 different windows and will try to never show the same scene twice in the dining room untill all options have been showed. Each window also has a "airlock" gate that can lower and cover the window in the case of Bad Show and has the words "airlock secured". There is also a CGI version when the scenes are working properly when certain things happen but these are for show. Some examples of the random sights outside the "windows" are (but not limited to and able to be added to the show at any time uninteruppted). Keep in mind this is a space port and no sound accompanies the visuals outside with some VERY rare exceptions.

Common scenes that can be duplicated each day without creating a bad show.
-Random Cargo Ships. (these are common scenes that depict things being brought to the space station and opening day logos on the ship are from the 5 food stations in the port.)
-Random Commercial Space Travel Ships (brining tourists, business flight passengers, etc into and out of the space port. These are common scenes that appear. Some departing people will be in full fledged Disneyland tourist gear)


Unique Scenes that are not to be repeated each day.
-Rockett Rodd ship lands in a puff of smoke. Tow truck like vehicle tows the broken vehicle out of view
-Melinium falcan lands and R2D2 and C3PO casually walk to the space station. Time passes and they return and fly away
-Alien Tourist Ship (standard alien stereotypes) complete with cameras etc exit the craft. One family goes right up to the window and peeks in while others take numerous flash pictures at the people dining in the restaurant.
-Blimp like spaceship wtih painted spots lands. Cruella De Vill exits with some crates. Port authority stops her close to the window and stamps the crates carried by her goons with "live cargo" and instrutcs her to leave by pointing to her ship.
-Darth Vader docks and exists the ship flanked by 2 imperial guard and several storm troopers. They are stopped close to the window by Customs and after viewing passport is denied entry. Darth sends a storm trooper inside and waits..obviously irritated. The storm trooper comes back outside with an Alien Dole Whip and hands it to Darth. They board their ship and take off.
-Random Ships arrive, get refuled by service men and take off with no one leaving ship.
-Random Space battles in the distance. (5 different versions on opening day. 2 of them the winners try to dock the evil winners are denied entry while the good guys winner gets a mini celebration welcoming them back)


-Darth Sith docks and exists the vehicle. Customs scratches their head while checking passport and is granted entry. Shortly after he leaves carrying a Pizza Port pizza box and takes off.
-Ship marked "Muppets" docks. Cargo unloaded and is stamped "Dangerous Cargo" and given papers and granted access. Ship leaves
-Evil Queen ship arrives. Gets stopped by customs and she dissapears in a cloud of smoke. Soon later is seen leaving the port back to her ship with workmen behind her with crates carrying the Green Goddess Logo marked "Apples". Boards ship and leaves.
-Celebrity appearance by Sigourney Weaver lands her ship. Her and Bishop exit ship talking frantically to Customs (a warning perhaps?) and is denied entry. Small spiderlike alien is seen scuttling toward the base during this time. They reboard and fly away
-Disney Imagineering ship with logo lands. Joe Rhode and Tony baxter exit and enter the building. Eaching Leving with handfuls of souvineers (figment doll, yeti doll, tower of terror t-shirt, BTMR t-shirt, mouse ears...basically souvineers of the attractions they created). Ship takes off.
-Ship lands with a mickey mouse logo. Major Security is rushed to the ship door and is obstructing the view of the passengers leaving the ship (you can, however, see mickey mouses feet inbetween the legs of the security team.) Minute later the same security team hiding the celebrity leaves but this time with a mikey mouse balloon hovering in the middle. Ship Leaves
-Organic Pod looking ship lands. Several Humanoids from the Movie Avatar land. They leave with salads in togo boxes and leave.
-Darth Vader lands, again, and this time leaves the ship alone. Again denied by customs but waves his hand infront of him (using the force) and is now granted entry. Leaves again with an Alien AND regular Dole Whip and flys away.
-Ship crashlands onto the platform. A piece of the ship flys at the window and cracks it. Workmen rush to the window and cup their hands over their face to look inside. They lower a CGI airlock door. When the door opens the window is repaired.
-Alien movie star lands with lots of paparazzi rushing in taking pictures. She walks up to the window and kisses the window and waves to everyone inside. Workmen come shortly after and clean the lipstick off. Ship takes off and it can be assumed she is taking a separate flight somewhere else.
-Space Pirates land dressed almost like futureistic versions of the Pirates of the Caribbean pirates and are denied entry but allowed to accept crates of rum and be on their way.
-Commercial flight lands and a man with a sign that sais "Space Skippers" is waiting outside the ship. The crew that exits the ship are futuristic looking Jungle Cruise Skippers (complete with phaser guns) and enter the station. Ship Takes off.
-Darth Vader arrives, again, Customs official nervously looks at passport and is gained entry to the station. Leaves with a Disney Parks bag of souvineers.

There are many more that are not listed, but this gives you a good idea of the possibilities.

....Now lets move upstairs...


2ND FLOOR DINING ROOM "Transit to Connecting Flights"The sign above the elevators and ramp to upper level have signs that read "Transit to Connecting Flights". The ramp upward contains all the posters that have old tomorrowland attraction posters and other such nostalgia that was in the original pizza port building. A 2nd floor emergency door is added at the top of the ramp with fire escape like exit for fire codes.

Once upstairs you cannot see to the floor below. The windows this time are now more of an incomplete circle vision style of screens. The roof is a dome with fiberoptic stars glowing. The roof (under the dome) is a large space style window much like you would see in Star Wars. This gives places for the recest spot lighting to give illumination to the tables and walkways. There are no walls or separations upstairs, nor any booths. Just many tables all over the place giving a pretty high capacity as there are no barriers. The scenes depicted outside shows a similar space scene, large ledge all the way around. In the distance toward the edge is a monoral track that shows past, present, and future versions of monorails going around. (in all the colors past and present and future). The scenes that go by the windows are much closer than the huge space ships that are docking in and out of the room below as they are depicted as transit vehicles that is assumed taking people/aliens to different commercial boarding gates at the station (much like the orlando airport). The vehicles that are taking people are more comedic than downstairs and not conventional. Most of the vehicles that are moving passed the windows going from one side to the complete opposite side of the circular room (hence the circle vision). The windows stop just before the entrance to the ramp down ward and about a third of the room does not contain any sort of viewing screen.

Examples of vehicles going past the windows to their connecting flights are.

-People mover (each time this goes past has a different set of passengers. From disney tourists, to aliens with cameras gawking at the human zoo inside the restaurant).
-Skyway vehicles (the space version. Slowly hovering up and down as they go by that look exactly like the original skywya vehicles only with small rockets keeping them afloat as they slowly go by. each carrying tourists gawking at the people in the restaurant.
-Jungle Cruise Hovercraft vehicles complete with a skipper giving a tour in a microphone. At one point he shoots a screen and workmen show up afterwords and lower a CGI airlock door to fix the window. Window goes up shortly after, and before next scene starts.
-Space mountain vehicles zooms by with various types of people on board
-Rocket Rod zooms by and makes it half way around before smoking and stalling. Tow vehicle takes it away.
-A few dark looming eggshapes start moving around. about 1/3rd of the way they start turning to reveal they are actually doom buggies. People on board the buggies are pointing and laughing at the windows, some scared.
-Slow moving astro orbiter jet flys by entire circle with Timekeeper and 9-eye as passengers.
-Another People mover goes by carrying Pixar movie stars and villians. Including Nemo and Dory in a fish bowl carried by the dentists daughter.


Again there are further scenes but you get the idea.



***Fun Fact. The 2nd floor trash cans located near the on ramp are actually shoots that lead to the basement level. This is so no unsightly trash is being carried on the downramp as guests are bringing their food up.

***Corporate sponsorship is available for the scenes as well.  They must pay for some of the upkeep of the screens, computer equipment, and for the filming of their scenes and logos can appear on scenes in the form of spaceship logos and even clothing of those in the scene.  For Disney corporate sponsorships this will be relatively inexpensive.


EXTERIOR OF BUILDING.Much of the exterior is the same, including the outside eating areas. The paint job is more traditional Tomorrowland like with more soft blue neon and white curves. The rocket ouside is repainted with the WED logo. The red sign also remains the same but repainted dark metallic blue (almost black) with hundreds of fiberoptics that light up at night in a shooting star/vegas type fasion. The sign is raised lettering with the words "WEDway Port Authority" giving obvious nods to WED and the Peoplemover. They are backlit by blue neon and are more future like instead of the cartoony sign style of the Pizza Port. The added room to the top of the building and dome on top will be painted in a reddish color that looks much like the colors of Jupiter and has diagonal rings jetting out of it.



WHEW...all done. Sorry for the long read I hope you enjoy. As a WDW Park regular and not a Disneyland regular this was alot harder than I thought. I looked everywhere for blueprints, pictures, family videos from youtube to get a feel for the place as well as the food and room to work with. Hopefully I stayed within the footprint of the building and flow of the land!

*****Sorry for any mispellings, bad grammer, run on scentences etc....My hands are quite tired of typing and double checking. Any questions or clarifications please feel free to ask and I shall elaborate my vision of this refurbishment!

Thanks again,

-DWD Imagineer

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Trip Report August 2011

Well I just got home from a day trip to Disney World and thought I would share some of the events from my trip.  I haven't been there in  a year so somethings I noticed changed, or didn't notice it change last time.  So here goes.

First I got a Florida residence discount package deal and wasn't that bad at 200$.  I got a room for the night, park ticket with park hopper, Disney dine and wine plan.  It was only for one day and the 2nd day I went to downtown Disney and then drove home....so a quick one day trip really.

The Hotel:  All Star Music.  I have read the complaints about the all star franchise so I was a little hesitant.  As a Disney quality nut I will agree the decor inside and out is quite vulgar to Disney standards but I was only there to sleep so Ill leave it at that.  I'm not sure who green lighted these awful looking hotels but they are quite the eye sore.  I hope they eventually plan to re theme these in the future.  But as a room to shut your eyes...Ill take it.  The cast members were a delight here!  There were several as we waited in line to check in to help us and the woman that checked us in was very friendly and talkative...was nice!  Impressed my friend on her first visit, but all I could think of is the decor is not Disney standard, more like the best of Six Flags...oh well.

First stop, The Magic Kingdom.  It started raining the moment we got there so took a quick left and went into Adventureland.  Decided to go on the Jungle cruise since the boats were covered it should be okay.  Nope...due to the lightning all outdoor rides were shut down.  Bummer. Since it was raining we headed to the nearest indoor attraction. 

-The Enchanted Tiki Room:  Glad to see it back to its former self.  The other show was quite the slap in the face to the original so this was a great change.  However, with the refurb change I would think they would have done a bit more to make sure the show was working properly.  The birds looked nice and bright, the spotlights were a bit dim on some of the 4 main characters though.  I wish they had done better with the speakers or soundtrack as it still seemed pretty quiet.  Most of the background birds were working quite nice, and looked like they had some fresh plumage....however the Flowers that sing did not work so well.  Their tougnes were warbling they way they should but as they sang the words there was barely any mouth movement, or they would just just open up wide and when they were done singing they would shut again....but at least it was back to normal!

-Pirates of the Caribbean:  Waited about 10 minutes for this one and the queue seemed more bright than normal.  Perhaps I am wrong but I thought all the lanterns flickered and it had a darker feeling to the queue.  I also cant remember if the guys playing chess were seen from both queues but I didn't see it from the left side.  The mist effect doesn't do as good with the new character (forgot his name and too lazy to google at the moment)...it screamed "I'M A PROJECTED IMAGE"  perhaps because it was a real person with a beard and not makeup tentacles as a beard like the last time.  Just seemed to feel flat, luckily my friend who never been to Disney before didn't notice.  Ride was working great and most of the animatronics looked nice.  Until we get to the burning scenes.  The smell wasn't there, thought that added so much to this section so that was a disappointment.  The first three singers on the left were not working properly.  Their heads moved, their arms moved...but their mouths didn't.  Looked really dumb especially since they have speakers right there to give the illusion that they are singing.  Not the best.  The jail dog scene also had no mouth movements whatsoever from any of them....sorta blew the illusion.  Lastly we got stuck for a minute at the end scene with Jack with the treasure.  Finally I got to see it better.  Usually you go by so quickly its almost as if the scene is an afterthought.  I really think they need to open it up more at an angle as you are approaching it to see it better and not fly by. 

*KABOOM* Major thunderstorm after that ride and got stuck at Tortuga tavern and had some nachos....just okay...but we had a table and waited the rain out a bit. Once it slowed down a bit moved on from building to building....the park also cleared out a bit...or gathered around fantasyland and made those rides wait times HEAVILY increase!

-The Haunted Mansion:  For starters this is my favorite ride in the entire park(s)...and was my first time with the new queue and mirror effects at the end.  First off the new queue.  Jury is still out on this one since it was raining but it wasn't quite as bad in person as in pictures, but still not the feel of the inside of the house and really out of place.  Especially the busts and the fisherman's grave.  Next.....BORING CAST MEMBERS!  ugh I thought this was where the better performers worked....not today.  Only the guy in the stretching room had any character or tried, and I have seen better.  At least he told my friend who looked spooked "Good bye, and good luck".  The rest just looked bored at their job....total downer, its such a better experience when the cast members get into it.  I wish the pictures in the load area were lit up better, they are totally washed out and the only people that would even notice them are mansion freaks like me!  Constance looked a bit more phoney this time....her face was way too bright.  They need to dim it slightly because like pirates...she screamed "PROJECTED IMAGE"...because of this as well her face was too flat looking...they need to look more at the leota effect and figure out a way to get it close to her....The singing busts looked great.  They were so clear and far more real looking then I remembered.  Don't remember seeing these were refurbished but if they were great job!  The mirror effect was very cool and cute.  We got the one where they switched our faces.  Our faces weren't that clear so if they could tweak that it would be awesome!  The ghosts themselves look great and I approve them!  The cast members at the end smiled and told us to have a nice day.....ok normally I appreciate that, but not getting off the Haunted Mansion....shrug...

*rain stopped* walked up to dumbo and was excited to try to peek at the fantasyland expansion but when I saw there was a line for dumbo that meant the outdoor rides were back up.  Since the rides in frontierland always have long lines we b-lined it back there before the bulk of the crowds realized it. 

-Splash Mountain (waited 10 minutes).  The first few boats went down the flume with no water jets and no water going down the main falls...not cute....By the time we got there they were back up.  Overall this was a bad show.  I saw some things I read were fixed but others were not and looked REALLY bad!  In the How Do You Do section the first bird figure fishing on the left was not moving and slumped over.  All it reminded me of is a cheesy murder mystery where someone would pat him on the back and he would fall over with a knife in his back....the bird looked dead, bad bad show and bad first impression of the characters in the ride.  Off to the right in the steamboat 2 other birds not working.  One was a bird doing jazz hands just standing there, and another was slumped over.  *GASP* Its like there was an animatronic murderer on the loose in splash mountain!  Most of the brear fox characters had no mouth movement as well....still.  One of the 3 possums were also not moving.  The water was working for the turtles (was looking out for that) so that effect was going good.  Also the hopping brer rabbit was also working.  This wound up being my friends favorite ride after all (glad I didn't point out all the disasters that I saw).  Just sad that this ride is in this state, STILL, when it always has such long lines and is a big crowd pleaser!

-Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  By now Frontier land was filling up as expected, but still only waited 20 minutes for this one.  No falling rocks...sigh, isn't that part of the reason its called big thunder?  The geysers were working...wow haven't seen that effect in a few years!  The cast members running this ride were great!  They waved with big smiles and all seemed to be enjoying what they were doing on this one!  Nothing else really to report on this one...

*because of the rain we lost about an hour and a half in the park and had dinner reservations at Epcot so this was all we did in the magic kingdom....bummed out that I totally forgot to check out the fantasyland expansion before leaving....my bad*

Now Epcot (rode monorail peach and lime?)  Lime's airconditioning was working so well the hand rails were all wet.  Peach, not so much...but at least it wasn't hot in there...just not as cold as peach.  Monorail cast members were also very helpful and enjoying themselves!  Walking in the stupid monoliths still there...groan.  We had 7:50 dinner reservations and it was now a little after 5pm.  Decided to check out the walk on rides only before heading to world showcase.

-Spaceship Earth.  Short line but never stopped so we walked right on.  Everything looked great in here.  Didn't see one dead person in the place.  Guess just splash mountain had the serial killer.  Noticed some of the figures were A100...or at least the guy in Greece that used to have the Theatre Scene...the video going backward was quite funny and enjoyed that...either forgot about that or hadn't seen it yet.  Still miss Tomorrows child.  The music after the signing is very epic and fits so much better when looking at the stars than the current soundtrack.  Very Enjoyable.

-Journey into Imagination w/Figment.  Sigh sigh sigh sigh sigh.  Was hoping it would have been closed for Refurb but alas no, probably never will.  The original used to be my favorite (a tie for HM) and this horrible version is all I get for my nostalgia.  I really only go on this ride to see my old friend figment...even the bratty one.  The Figment animatronic with the phone had no mouth movement....guess that fix didn't last long.  Last year riding this ride he didn't even pop up at all....just a black room with a spotlight where you can see his ears sticking out....not sure which is worse.  The rest of this ride was working fine, but the skunk smell was diminished thank god.  Really want a 4th refurb of this closer to the original, just a bad ride but I have to give Figment my patronage so they don't decide to change it to a crappy thrill ride like test track or mission space.

*margarita time*

-Mexico.  Had the margaritas from outside.  Way too strong, but that didn't stop me from drinking it.  Got quite buzzed from it as well.  Didn't ride the grand fiesta tour, its line was actually full and its a cute little ride...but I wont wait in line for it more than 5 minutes. 

--Norway.  Oh maelstrom....such an underrated attraction.  This time however its going into major disrepair.  The 3 headed troll had no mouth movements so they felt like a broken down Showbiz pizza watching them....just had to shake my head.  The film at the end surprised me.  Granted I'm one of those that would rather skip it since I have seen it enough times when they made you wait to see it, see it, then open the doors.  It still isn't updated.  What surprised me is that the exit doors are open and there were at least 30 people sitting down to watch it.  Cool!  The cast members here were the best overall.  They all were smiling, those passing us by all said hello....overall the best cast members we encountered.

-Africa section...  The new beads are pretty cool (the ones made from the park maps)...check them out!

-Italy.  Time for Dinner.  Had 7:50 reservations ad Tutto Italia.  It was bittersweet because I loved Alfredo's so much and have awesome memories there eating with my family for dinner there at least twice a trip.  (My dad and the owner were on first name basis and he would even buy a ticket every time he was in Orlando just to eat there and not even do anything else).  The food was really really good and was surprised.  Had the wine and dine plan so we had a bottle of wine as well.  140$ bill and the plan paid for the entire thing...Id call that a win!  Everyone who worked there was also VERY friendly and helpful!

*a bit tipsy now, so took the rest of our wine in kids cups and headed out for some fireworks*

-Illuminations, reflections of earth.  The show is holding up pretty well.  The globe was working perfectly, however, in my opinion is the most boring part of the show.....impressive for first time viewers though. 

*SLEEP TIME*  Beds okay, no complaints.  No noisy neighbors....just had to walk far to find a smoking spot...grr

-Downtown Disney.  Before leaving we went downtown.  Nothing really to report at all other than the coffee at ghirardelli was very good.  The spitting stitch's pirate hat is a ripped mess and needs to be replaced.  Was really sore walking through pleasure island and looking longingly at the adventurers club..

*OVERALL IMPRESSION*

-Disney Dining Plan.  I really had no issues with it.  It was easy to figure out, and when weren't sure cast members helped us out.  With the bottle of wine and dinner in Epcot it was a great thing!

-Cast Members this time around were MUCH Friendlier than last year and held a great impression!

-If your a smoker get to know the designated Shame spot.  They are not in the best places, especially the Magic Kingdom (with the exception of the frontierland area...that was nice).  Most are not covered and when it rains its sucks!

-The state of repair is still a big downer, especially splash mountain.  This really needs to get fixed or a better plan in motion!

-Had a great time and was glad I spent my money. 

Monday, June 13, 2011

Fixing Epcot......Relight the Spark.

The first Pavilion that needs help is the Imagination building. 



This was one of Epcot's major attractions for quite some time.  It had everything; an original dark ride featuring wonderful music played throughout the ride like the long time classics of Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean.  It had a cutting edge 3D movie that wowed everyone (more than once).  It had a technologically advanced playroom that begged for your imagination to play and be used. 

Now...it has a D ticket dark ride (at best), a 3D movie that is long outdated with both concept and technology (and now has an even older one but playing on the recent King of Pop's death to bring in the numbers and give nostalgia to fans back when it was new and fresh.  It has a playroom that is quite boring and you can do on any computer or even cheap laptop.  The gift shop even sells things you can get at your local mall.  Overall if you don't have any nostalgic feelings about what this building once was...then it can easily be skipped and you wont miss anything...especially since this pavilion lacks one thing most of all, Imagination.


How would I fix this?  Glad you asked...

Lets start with the exterior.  Mostly just needs a good cleaning, otherwise the exterior is great.
The ugly signs Epcot started using as a standard (from Test Track to Ellen's Energy Adventure) has to be stopped......

Doesn't scream Imagination to me.  To be fair, the original sign wasn't much better.  It was a steel grid like structure with a transparent tarp that had the Kodak logo on it....it didn't have much imagination either.  It did, however, fit the grid of the building pyramids better.  If I could redesign this building with a new sign it would be something simple for the land based sign that was complimentary to the building.  For the water I would do something with more imagination.  If  you remember in the original attraction (or watch the video of it I will be posting at the end) they did a play on words doing exactly what they said.  There was giant letters in the literature section doing things like Shake, Earthquake etc....and they moved and did what each word said.  I think in the water having the word IMAGINATION jumping out of the pond in front of the upside down waterfall like some fish jumping out of the water.  Sometimes just one letter jumps out in an arch, other times more than one, and every few minutes or so they all jump out in unison.  They might even have fish "wings".  Maybe even out of the waterfall like salmon jumping up stream....  Something like that.  The building is very photogenic and it could possibly create an even cooler video/photo spot to try and catch the "letter fish" jumping at the same time to get the imagination word jumping out of the lake.

Next up, the Magic Eye theatre is desperate for a new film.  I thought about this and wasn't quite sure what to bring to it.  I am not a huge fan of Pixar because I think their films don't have a long shelf life but I think one of them might fit in quite well and be a good tie in to this pavilion.  A new show featuring the Pixar film " The Incredibles ".  With the characters and what they can do I think some great sight gags would work very well (especially with the bendy mom).  Adding the fourth dimension like the Muppet vision attraction at DHS  and adding the live animatronics would also work very well.  One of the characters that needs a spotlight in this film is ....

Edna E Mode.  This is a great character from the movie and was quite funny.  She was a fashion designer for superheroes and used science, technology, and art to create the costumes for her heroes.....all themes from the original attraction.  She would also make a great Pre Show film, as well as have a good hand in the movie.  Why make her a break out star of this attraction?  Because in the new imagination playground how great would it be for people and children to use their imagination to create their own superhero costume? 

I know what your thinking, this will turn the entire pavilion into a pixar The Incredibles attraction.  Nope this would be the only thing in the playground that would be a nod to the film.  The gift shop however would probably get a huge nod to the movie, but not all of it...there is another character or two that would get the larger chunk of that.....


Yup, Figment! 

That makes my segway into the heart of the pavilion.  Journey into Imagination.  The current version needs to be completely scrapped and sold on eBay.  Its a horrible ugly shadow of the once E-ticket attraction it once was.  The newest version of Journey into Imagination turned this lovable figure with childish delight into an obnoxious troublemaker and took away all of his likability.  I want to see this ride return with all of the original glory it once had.  I don't think a complete replica is the answer, but it needs many of the old elements combined with new.  First off Dreamfinder needs to come back and be put back into his rightful home.  He was the perfect compliment to figment and was our guide to help us use our imagination. 




The things in this classic dark ride that need to be restored is the pre-show merry go round section in the original building.  All the words and dialogue should remain intact from the original including Dreamfinders Dream Catching Machine needs to return with no changes.  It was timeless.  Now...maybe the machine itself could use some sort of updating and both Dreamfinder and Figment should be an A100 Animatronic figures in this scene....and Dreamfinder could use a little updating on his look but not much.  The rest of the ride needs some nods to the original but should all be brand new and in the spirit of the original.  The original also had a photo opportunity and I think this needs to take a step further.  I have been thinking awhile on what cool photo thing could be done to make this fun.....and give Disney something to profit (after all bottom line means a lot to any money making machine).....  I thought some sort of take on what Jib Jab is doing with their greeting cards would be awesome!  Just after the intro to figment scene (the carousel part) it could stop to scan your imagination to see how they could use everything they collected and show you a world of imagination (I know, ARGH, it seems like a nod to the current version) but at least that would be it.  Then at the end where figment used to stand singing the finale to the song One Little Spark by Richard Sherman instead of figment on the view screens....its You singing WITH figment.  Granted this needs more fine tuning but what is funny to me is they just started using something similar to this idea I had in the Haunted Mansion Hitchhiking ghosts scene as a part of its refurb (Disney beat me to it again :) )  Each segment in J4 (Journey into Imagination 4th Refurb)  could feature everyone in the car or just solo...whatever the imaganeers think is best...perhaps a combo...

If you have never seen a JibJab greeting card here is the link...they are quite amusing and fun JibJab.

They can then make some money on using your face singing with figment by selling a DVD of your FULL performance with figment with the full One little Spark song next to him on the ride or scenes within.  There could ALSO be something in the imageworks area that lets you make more than just you singing with figment but with classic scenes from other rides from Disney or even with classic movies.  Selling scene by scene...Great little marketing tool...For DVD or sending your your own Email copy instantly!

The other room that most fans of the original attraction that needs to come back is the "white room"  Where everything is made, or made to look like, paper.  With colors roaming around and figment with his paint brush and pot of gold....Just a new version!


That brings me to imageworks...Upstairs


AHH my memories of the Rainbow Tunnel!!!  Loved walking through this.  Was the first thing I would do after getting of the greatest dark ride at Epcot! (although Horizons at one point held that title for me).  Make some new fun things to do upstairs including some of the things I mentioned in the above. 

How about the Queue for the attraction?  One thing I hated about the original was the cattle drive style metal railings.  It made the wait kinda unbearable and very boring until you got near the omni-mover loading area.  The Murals need to come back...or at least new ones in the same spirit.  To me they were a nod to the artwork of Mary Blair, just not as colorful.  The style though seemed to come straight from her work at Disney Theme Parks.  The blue tones were perfect for the mood of the blue cars and the cool feeling of being at ease and comfortable as the Dreamfinder made us all feel....even calming Figment when he was scared of lightning....


 Seeing the building as is I am not sure how to make the queue more interesting without mucking it up with monitors.  Perhaps some nods to the original attraction when you see the Dream Catching Machine fly like the beginning of the original ride.  I don't think they have any room to make a more themed queue other than maybe add walls to it and go with the spirit of the interactive queue like other attractions that have things on the wall for you to touch and or watch instead of metal railings....Now the newer version does have a better themed queue, sadly, and I think the doors are very cute and do have some imagination to the them.  One area that needs to NOT be apart of the queue is the "nook" to the right of the building as you enter the doors.  I remember being young and the queue did enter this area to not clutter the entrance view...but using it as a stroller parking area is MUCH better.  If you don't think stroller parking is an issue at Disney then take a leisurely stroll over to The Living Seas Pavilion...err sorry, The Seas With Nemo and Friends.  That area is a complete stroller nightmare and really gives the entrance sign a trashy atmosphere!

Lastly...it wouldn't be Disney without Meet and Greets.  After all they almost made the Fantasyland Expansion exclusively a meet and greet area....glad they changed their mind.  Figment AND Dreamfinder need to return to their old character meet and greet style...


YES!


NO NO NO!!!

When EPCOT Center first opened Disney Characters were mostly forbidden there.  I think that's quite extreme that it is one of Walt's ideas(well a play on one of his ideas for E.P.C.O.T.) and it DID start with a mouse.  Now, however, the characters are taking too large of a foothold to regain the fact that Epcot isn't just for adults.  They are all over the place and their character dining areas are in places they should not be, period!  Back when EPCOT Center first opened and Mickey and the gang weren't allowed EPCOT Center had its very own characters....Figment and Dreamfinder and they were the unofficial characters of this park!  They need to be restored to that glory...maybe not ahead of the mouse, but at least number two in this original park that has gone to the bland side!

This is my Idea to get Epcot on the right track.  I have copy written nothing and would LOVE it if Disney would use it ...or even use the fact that a fan is wanting them to go back to their roots....Tony Baxter style!

So...that's the first area I would fix....what would you do?

As promised...video of the attraction....


That's part one....Love the "Pre-Show" even though its part of the ride!

Worthy of E-Ticket Disney Dark Ride?  I think so....Just needed to upgrade a few scenes and would have stayed an amazing attraction....



Then the attraction got a Refurb.  I have heard that it was in the contract with Kodak that it would be changed by 2000 if they were still the sponsor...I have also heard that Kodak wanted a cheaper operating version of the show....either way this was such a BAD refurb...see for yourself


Then with this being one of the most complained about attractions at any Disney Park they closed it down fairly quickly as attraction life spans go since the biggest complaint was Figment was missing....and they made this, the most current version of the ride...

The song "One Little Spark" by Mr Sherman came back...with different lyrics and I do like the verse with the eye chart to be honest....would fit with the original song....but the entire version seems like a big ol' reply from Disney saying "You want Figment back?  Then here he is in full force right in your face!"  In a very bad way!  They turned him into an irritant...not a fun loving character he once was....even the ending where they shove a boatload of Figments down your face like thats what the fans wanted....not even close.....Imagination in this incarnation became about the senses...not about imagination...Sad don't you think?

Fixing Epcot

First of all I don't think Epcot needs fixing, it just needs a Renascence.  It tried to go through one during the millennium celebration but all that really happened around that time was it went backward.  There are SO many great things about Epcot but it is not the park it was meant to be, or even was.  I am starting this series of blog posts to hopefully spark an Imaganeer, or a corporate suit, or a Disney marketing guru's fire to take a long look at Epcot and its unused potential.  I still love Epcot, I just want to see it back to its glory days.

These segments are just my musings and thoughts as to what would be great at Epcot and to make my decision to visit Epcot or the Magic Kingdom first....and to spend the entire day there!

So lets start the first post on what I would do if I could "fix Epcot"...

Enjoy, and please feel free to comment!

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Hitchhiking Ghost's get a refurb!

Looks like another refurb has been released.  Some of the first things I saw when I was looking for this I was again disappointed and upset...

However, now that I have seen this I am very happy about what I am seeing.  Very cool effects and love LOVE LOVE the switching of the heads, the beard being placed on you etc.  It is using face recognition software for the effect and I think its absolutely wonderful!

Take a look!

The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventures.....Pre Review

Never been to DCA and probably never will, however, This attraction is coming to my Disney home park...WDW Magic Kingdom in the new Fantasyland Expansion.

Since I have never be on this ride yet all I have is the videos and pictures seen on the net.  Some of it looks Great...other parts not so much.  Disney has been needing some good dark rides of this fashion in a bad way.  Look at the most beloved attractions on every ones list, most of them are dark rides or have major dark ride elements about them.  Disney has jumped on the movie screen motion simulator wagon and stayed on it too long and they need to get back to their roots in my opinion.

Here is a video of the attraction.



Some of this ride looks Fantastic!  The feeling and mood of the "under the sea" section, and of course the Ursula section.  The Ursula animatronic alone looks like it makes this ride a must see! 

I do have some issues with this, I wouldn't be a Disney fanatic if I didn't....seems to be what holds Disney fans together is criticizing and yet loving at the same time!

First issue I have is this all seems very It's a small world to me.  Especially in the "under the sea" section.  The minimal movements of the characters, things just spinning like the starfish, and the atmosphere around it seems minimal.  The mood of the room is great, but just seems half done to me.  I cant see the Sebastian character that well but he looks like a very small AA animatronic and from what little I saw he looks great.  Much like the bird in the beginning looks nice!  But everything seems...half thought out during the entire ride.

The next issue I have I just cant seem to get out of my mind.  Ariel's hair.  It just looks odd.  I realize getting hair to look like its underwater when its not is a near impossible task...but this just looks like I'm watching an attraction brought to you by the Old Navy mannequins.  From the video, however, it does look like they gave the hair some independent motion that probably looks much nicer in person and not on video.  Watch the video again and you can see it.

Looks mannequin like to me.

Dairy Queen Undersea Soft Serve?

King Triton got real hair...


The last issue is with the finale.  It is horrible!  I can overlook the fact that they left out the fall of Ursula, well sort of since it was such a big part of the movie, but the Finale is so bad in this ride.  First off we see repeats of some of the animals from the Under the Sea section of the ride.  They didn't even get different colors, or even different movements.  Its like they needed more things in this section and at the very last minute plucked some out of the middle of the ride and threw them here to give it more life.  Each scene was like it was building to some fantastic beautiful finale and all we get is a short scene....falls flat.


That's it?  That's the end?

Again I have not seen it in person and could be being to harsh.   What do you think?  E ticket worthy?  Almost, but not quite.