Land of the Rising Mickey
Page 3 of 3
The entrance of Pooh's Hunny Hunt
Marc: As I wrote in a recent column, I'm really blown away by Hunny Hunt. I think there's something magical and spellbinding about how the vehicles move so gracefully and give the impression of being guided my a mysterious intelligence... I don't know how else to put it. Their movements are so deliberate and surprising. There's also such a multitude of visual effects in the attraction - animatronics, video projection, fiber optics, not to mention, bouncing with Tigger. Any stories you can tell us about the attraction's development?
Eddie: It wouldn't have happened without the dedication of many people that believed in the vision and potential of Pooh. They took alot along the way, but can look back at a ride that is not only a great achievement, but is responsible for the huge attendance at TDL in a down economy. I congratulate them all. Brock Thoman, Pooh's stateside art director is one of them.
The idea of using these "free ranging" vehicles combined with Pooh (he is huge in Japan) was something I contributed during the early phases of concept as we had to have a 2000 per hour E ticket ride for TDL and I really didn't want to just replicate something. The ride group at WDI had a video of these two vehicles almost doing a figure skating pattern..it was so beautiful. I really wanted to use it. Then I learned it was going to be used in TDS. That meant it was already under development and I could suggest it. But how to use it? In the dark as a storytelling device seemed to be feasible. You can't market as an "E" the typical "Snow White" scale of dark ride. Even with 2 tracks for capacity. But this new system may make the difference in the "wow" factor and still deliver the 2000 per hour they were looking for. So it was proposed, pitched and accepted.
A portion of the attraction's outdoor queue
Looking back at the process, you have your doubts along the way whether you are asking too much technically and if the pacing of the Hunny Pots moving into and out of the scenes will kill the momentum of the story. I was most terrified of the latter. Will those Pots with other guests in the way pollute your view of the show? Will the waiting for them to assemble or march in or out of the Tigger scene make it all feel too slow? Dan Ju was a lead "choreographer" on the show and made sure my fears would be unfounded. I think I drove him nuts.
Everyone asks what you didn't do so here's one... Originally a spotlight was to track your vehicle like a figure skater during the Woozle number, but that got cut.
We tried to use a variety of effects that hadn't been done in TDL and stole the disappearing hallway from Tower of Terror as the Pooh dream effect. The Tigger bounce was "set in stone" when the show's producer Jon Georges was working the WDI open house and polled the children at our Pooh model. They all wanted to bounce with Tigger. We had to keep that scene in at all costs. An Imagineer named Ovid Pope presented his idea for how the bounce would be done. We were amazed and it stuck.
Marc: And Hunny Hunt's popularity hasn't diminished. Today (March 26th, 2001), the stand-by line was three hours and twenty minutes long and the line to get FastPass tickets (before they sold out) was ALSO over three hours long... all in a driving rain!
Eddie: It is hard for any ride to live up to that wait. With guests like that you can see why anyone like me would love working on TDL. Their CM's and guests are the best!
Marc: You mentioned something to me previously about interactivity being the next step for the trackless/wireless system. I picture things like mazes that give the riders choices at various points... maybe incorporating some sort of quest or race to a goal, adding an element of competition and/or urgency to the experience. Would you tell us some of your thoughts regarding where you think this incredibly flexible technology might go?
Eddie: A trackless system opens your mind up to break traditional barriers. Usually in attraction design, speed equals track length and that equals real estate and capacity, investment, etc. In this scenario, the vehicles are only restricted to an area they can dwell in (like a bumper car ride.) The vehicles could actually have their own parade through the park into the load area! What an entrance..now your own minds are racing...
More interactivity without blowing the capacity is the trick. My sense is that these things feel "alive" and that is magic. Make 'em less mechanical and more real and then you are on the next level.
I want to design more rides with this system.. Pooh is a tiny down payment on what can be done.
Join us next Monday for part two, when Eddie talks about his redo of TDL's Tiki Room, Tomorrowland, and what it was like Imagineering for Japan.
Discuss It
-- Marc Borrelli
Marc Borrelli has been visiting Disneyland in California for over thirty years and has had the opportunity to observe many of the Park's onstage and backstage workings. He is an entrepreneur who alternates between working obsessively and having way too much time on his hands. In the past few years he's spent much of that time exploring his hobby of trying to figure out just what it is that makes the people who design, build, operate, and go to Disney theme parks tick. He is now living in Tokyo, Japan and has turned his attention to the Tokyo Disney Resort and the unique culture in which it exists. He also created and maintains his Tokyo DisneySea Preview website.
Land of the Rising Mickey is normally posted on the first Monday of each month.
The opinions expressed by Marc Borrelli, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
© Marc Borrelli and LaughingPlace.com. All rights reserved
-- Posted April 2, 2001.