LP Lotion: Disneyland Resort What's Next Presentation
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As part of the coverage of the new World of Color show at Disney California Adventure, the Disneyland Resort held a "What's Next?" presentation on Stage 17 of the Hollywood Pictures Backlot. LaughingPlace was invited to share this with our readers. Here are a few highlights, along with photos and video.
Tom Staggs, head of Disney's Parks and Resorts welcomed the crowd and spoke of World of Color. Noting the elaborate effects, massive fountains, and vivd use of color, he deadpanned, "It's really a subtle show." He went on to describe it as, "a celebration that will be happening every night at Disney California Adventure." He wound up his presentation with a video showing guest reactions and various reviews. Among them was a quotation from LaughingPlace.com: "Once again, Disney has created something new and unique."
Kathy Mangum of Walt Disney Imagineering shared an extensive look at Carsland. She showed images of the richly detailed environment, complete with neon lighting at night. A "fly through" computer generated image showed the extent and scale of Radiator Springs. She also shared details of the three Carsland attractions: Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, Luigi's Tires, and Radiator Springs Racers. The presentation was highlighted by an appearance by Lightning McQueen himself. Carsland is scheduled to open in 2012.
Star Tours: The Adventure Continues was presented by Kathy Rogers. In her talk she noted that Walt Disney Imagineering was working with George Lucas and Industrial Light and Magic in creating new destinations for the classic attraction. The new journeys will be drawn from a time period set just before the original film trilogy, drawing on characters and settings from both sets of Star Wars films. To the previously announced Tatooine trip, Rogers stated that Coruscant had been officially added. There was also a promise of new technologies for the attraction, specifically digital 3D projection. Rogers warned that final trips to Endor must be booked by July 26, 2010 in Disneyland, and September 7, 2010 at Walt Disney World. This message was delivered at some peril; no sooner were the words out of her mouth than Imperial Storm Troopers stormed the building, ending the presentation.
Another highlight was Lisa Girolami's look at The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure, arriving in Disney California Adventure in Summer, 2011. The presentation included a complete "trip" through the attraction, via renderings, recordings, and videos. The attraction will open with Scuttle narrating the story of Ariel, comically mixing up details as the guests' clamshell vehicles slip "Under the Sea." Following a peek into Ariels's Grotto, the song Under the Sea is seen in an elaborate setpiece, filled with familiar characters. Animator Glen Keane is consulting on the creation of Ariel, and the film's original art directors are contributing their expertise to the settings. The omnimover based ride system will take guests through Ursula's Lair, past the Kiss the Girl song, to Love's First Kiss and, of course, Happily Ever After. The presentation was climaxed by a live performance of "Part of Your World" and "Under the Sea" by Jodi Benson, the original Ariel, and a full cast. Music, light and color filled the air as the familiar songs were presented, bringing the presentation to a close.
Also presenting that day were Rachel Quinn of the Disney Cruise Line (announcing that the Cruise Line would offer free bookings for guests under 17 with two paid bookings) and Bob Deuel of Disney Travel (sharing Summer ticket offers and travel deals).
Following What's Next, invited media participated in roundtable discussions with members of the Walt Disney Company. The following is some of the information, interesting facts, and tidbits gleaned from the roundtables.
Steve Davison, Vice President, Parades and Spectaculars, Walt Disney imagineering Creative Entertainment and Sayre Wiseman, Director, Show Production, Walt Disney imagineering Creative Entertainment, shared about World of Color. They mentioned that the multi-colored globes in Paradise Park were first used in the June 10 showing for the premiere. Davison also mentioned that it was input from John Lasseter of Pixar that led them to integrate Mickey's Fun Wheel into the show. Previously they had made the decision to treat it as if it was not there, despite its looming presence. They also discussed the use of new animation in World of Color, noting that the Old Mill seen during the storm sequence was a completely new CGI recreation of the classic Silly Symphony.
Dave Bossert, Creative Director and Head of Special Projects, Walt Disney Animation Studios and Roger Gould, Creative Director, Theme Parks, Pixar Animation Studios discussed the use of animation in World of Color. Bossert asserted that at least half of the Disney animation seen in the show is new, some of which was oredered and created within the weeks preceding the opening day. Paper animation sequences still included in World of Color were the Sultan's Palace from Aladdin, the fish band seen in the projection domes during Under the Sea, and the Cheshire Cat seen during the finale. Gould stated that Pixar had been consulting on the show for some four years. Nearly every Pixar sequence had to be recreated, mostly to keep the characters on screen longer than they were seen in the original films.
Chuck Davis, Technical Producer for World of Color recalled that over the years at least ten different shows had been considered for the Paradise Bay lagoon. As a member of the original team that worked on the technical direction for Disney California Adventure's construction, Davis was pleased to see that the final choice was World of Color.
Bob Weis, Executive Vice President of Walt Disney Imagineering and Portfolio Creative Leader for the expansion of Disney California Adventure revealed that during construction of the new Buena Vista Street entrance, guests will enter through the front of the park, but make a sharp right turn through an area presently occupied by guests services and restrooms, emerging in the Condor Flats area. He also stated that there would be a public walkway connecting the Hollywood Tower with Carsland. He also offered assurance that any Carsland rockwork visible inside the park would be finished, rather than left bare.
Mary Niven, Vice President, Disney California Adventure Park and Guest Services at the Disneyland Resort gave details about World of Color logistics. The new picnic meal program will extend through the end of the Summer, and possibly beyond if demand warrants. At present, 425 meals are sold online for the 9pm show, and 400 meals are sold over the counter in the park for the 10:15 show. She also confirmed that there would be a third show if there was demand. (This has been the case for the past week, with FastPass distribution for the show.) With scheduled shows at 9pm, 10:15pm, and shows as needed at 11:30, park hours would extend to 11pm.
Doug McIntyre, Director of Entertainment Development and Production for Creative Entertainment, Disneyland Resort stated that Glow Fest was scheduled to run through August 22. He also discussed the interactive video component of Glow Fest.
Bob Deuel, Public Relations Director Worldwide Sales and Travel Operations, Disney Destinations hastened to correct the announcement about the Summer Ticket Offer. A three day ticket will cost $108, at a cost of $36 per day. He also discussed details of the California Summer Fun Pass. He also revealed that reservations would be taken for Disney's newest resort in Hawaii starting in the Fall of 2011.
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