From: Rich_Koster@agwbbs.new-orleans.LA.US (Rich Koster)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney
Subject: Insider Tips
Distribution: world
Date: 8 Nov 92 13:18:01 CST
Organization: The Amiga GateWay BBS * New Orleans, La.

Here are bits of advice we gleaned from attending the Insider Tips
presentation given at the Contemporary Resort while we were there for
the Disneyana convention.  All Disney resort guests can attend these
Insider Tips sessions, although perhaps it is only for those staying
at a Disney resort which is not a moderately-priced one -- because we
didn't hear anything about this free program while staying at Disney's
Dixie Landings resort.  All information and time periods given here
were accurate as of when we attended this particular Insider Tips
presentation on Thursday, September 24, 1992.  Things in parentheses
are my comments.
 
Tip about seeing Epcot fireworks:  It has some fireworks that are low
to the ground and the smoke from it can drift your way.  So, before
the show starts, pick your viewing spot so that the wind is not coming
into you from the islands in the lake.  Most of the time the smoke
goes roughly to the Canada pavillion.
 
The barber shop and beauty parlor in the Contemporary resort have just
been renovated a few weeks ago.
 
A flood at the Contemporary Resort's monorail station Thursday morning
closed the hotel's access to the monorail for a few hours that day.
 
(From talking to other guests, we learned that water was leaking down
on the monorail station from above, but cast members would give no
details about how it happened or any further information -- and the
ones that knew might have been told to not say anything.  There was
renovation going on at the Tower's North side that day, but I don't
know if the flooding problem had anything to do with the renovation
work.  That same day we waited 20 minutes at the TTC's boarding
platform while a monorail was adjusted while we watched.  Repairmen
looked at it while it was alongside the platform, and then had it
pull forward so that an entry hatch on the faulty car cleared the
platform, so they could open it to make adjustments.  A monorail train
from Epcot was waiting to come into the station, in view just around
the bend from the TTC.  When there aren't any problems with the
monorail, it took us 20 minutes to ride it from the Contemporary's
station through the TTC, past the Polynesian and Grand Floridian,
before disembarking at the Magic Kingdom.  It takes much less time to
walk along the paved path which connects the Contemporary with the
Magic Kingdom rather than taking the monorail.)
 
The Contemporary Resort's garden wings are finished with their
renovations.  The rooms on the 2nd floor of the tower were just
renovated.  They finished hanging paintings in those rooms the week of
the Disneyana convention.  Rooms in the tower's other floors are
still being renovated (and renovation work continues on the North
exterior wall of the tower -- a temporary elevator for the use of
the construction workers is quite visible along the outside of the
wall).
 
The special effects in the Little Mermaid show at the Disney-MGM
Studios haven't been used in other Disney attractions yet.
 
 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
(SPOILER -- This next paragraph should be skipped if you want the
Little Mermaid show to be a complete surprise to you!)
 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
(These special effects include combining live action with animated
clips, laser projection similar to Epcot's fireworks show but with
animated character outlines which transform into movie clips of those
characters -- watch for the "Hidden Mickey" in the transformation when
King Triton appears -- I'm sure I saw a laser projected outline of
Mickey's early profile for a split-second, but I didn't go back into
the show a second time to double check...  Also in that show is the
use of mist (some say it is a salt-water mist), cool breezes, black
light with glowing characters -- ruined a couple of times in the show
by a persistent photographer with a flash camera which showed cast
members dressed in black outfits like the Mumminchants (spelling?)
dance troupe uses.  Two more laser projectors on either side of the
stage rise up and down on vertical tracks as they create images which
look like the top of waves -- this gives the impression that you are
at times sinking and rising during your voyage under the sea.)
 
End of Spoiler.
 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
 
Aladdin takes over the Theatre of the Stars at Disney-MGM in October,
replacing the Beauty and the Beast stage show.
 
Beauty and the Beast is going to Broadway as a Disney production.
 
Also at the Insider Tips presentation, we were told "The Walt Disney
Story" was going to be closed, but it wasn't said when that would
happen.  (As it turned out, it closed the following week, I believe).
 
At Discovery Island, scratch the neck of one of the tortoises inside
its shell.  The tortoises love this and they'll stretch their necks
far out in the hope that you'll scratch even more.  You can impress
your friends when you do this -- they'll think you know how to handle
tortoises!
 
(A WDW 20 Year Anniversary pin was given to the first person to answer
a Disney trivia question correctly.  We were all given an opportunity
to get a pin, as the questions kept getting easier and easier.  Be
forewarned that at the presentation we were at, the cast member
thought that the correct answer to "What is the angle of Splash
Mountain's big slide?" was "a 45-degree angle" rather than a 47-degree
angle as it states in Disney's Splash Mountain press release.  I did
not get a pin for being the first to answer that question, as I said
"47-degree angle"... :-(  I did get a pin later, though, for answering
another question. :-)  Everyone also got an "Insider Tips" button.)
 
Wearing the "Insider Tips" button gives you $2 off the admission price
at the AMC movie theater at Pleasure Island, and gets you a free drink
at Discovery Island.
 
The AMC Theatre at Pleasure Island is "only one of about ten in the
U.S. with screens of its kind".  (We didn't have time to see a movie
in it, so I can't relate what exactly this means...)
 
End of the Insider Tips report.

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