From: Rich_Koster@agwbbs.new-orleans.LA.US (Rich Koster)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney
Subject: Disneyana - Tony Baxter
Date: 23 Nov 92 00:03:53 GMT
Organization: The Amiga GateWay BBS * New Orleans, La.

Continuing with the reports about the 1st Disneyana Convention, we are
now up to Tony Baxter's presentation in the Contemporary Resort's
Fantasia ballroom at Walt Disney World on the morning of Saturday,
September 26, 1992.  Tony followed Disney Archivist Dave Smith, and
his topic was Disney Touches/Euro Disney.  Here are highlights of his
presentation.
 
Tony informed us that right before Christmas construction was to be
finished at It's A Small World in Disneyland which would have guests
going in the old exit and out the former entrance.  This is to get a
better view of the clock (although he didn't say anything about how
this would coincidentally have guests exit through the new Mattel
toy store at the exit!).  He also said the attraction's white facade
would be painted in EuroDisney's pastel colors because they were very
pleased with how Euro Disneyland's attraction looked with the new
color scheme. It was used there because there are many overcast days
at that park.  Using an all-white facade would make it blend into the
background too much, but the pastel colors make it pop out.
 
He said that in the next couple of years Tomorrowland at WDW will have
a new face, but didn't go into details.
 
This paragraph will be my observations and assumptions, based on hints
Tony Baxter gave and what I saw when I was at WDW.  I assume what Tony
meant about Tomorrowland getting a "new face" was that the scale model
that had been on display at WDW's late Walt Disney Story is to be a
reality -- It showed Tomorrowland renamed as Discoveryland, so perhaps
the "new face" will be one just like Euro Disneyland.  In the model,
Grand Prix Raceway becomes Autopia, which would mean it will have the
same 50's style cars found at Euro Disneyland.  Space Mountain will be
changed to Discoveryland Mountain (more about that below).  Mission to
Mars will become Alien Encounter.  Across from that, the Circle-Vision
360 "American Journeys" and the Delta Dreamflight would become "From
Time to Time".  Next to that, the current Plaza Pavilion would become
the Astronomers Club (which Tony at first called the Adventurers Club,
because he said he had just gone there the previous night and got them
mixed up because he said they are kind of similar).  The Starjets
location on the scale model was labelled Kinetic Jets (just like at
Euro Disneyland), and the Tomorrowland Theatre was still in place but
unlabelled (probably to be called something creative like Discovery-
land Theatre!).  The Carousel of Progress building was still there,
but changed to Flying Saucers.  The Skyway building was in its current
place, but labelled Future Mover (I think the word was "Mover", if I
make out my notes correctly).  A brand new building was shown to the
Northeast of Autopia, roughly in the area now occupied by the maze at
Mickey's Starland, but this building had no name attached to it.  It
looked somewhat like this:
   ___  __   The right side of it is up against the railroad tracks,
  / _ \|  |  but it wouldn't be a train station because the existing
 / / \    |  one at Mickey's Starland was still shown.  Perhaps it is
 \ \_/    |  an addition to Duckburg since access to it would be
  \       |  easier from Mickey's Starland than from Discoveryland.
  / _     |  My guess is that it will be Goofy's House like at
 / / \    |  Disneyland's Mickey's ToonTown, since Mickey's House is
 \ \_/    |  already at Mickey's Starland and the other new ToonTown
  \___/|__|  attractions are to be at the Disney-MGM Studios addition.
             By the way, my guess is that the days are numbered for
the maze at Mickey's Starland, because it does not exist on the map in
the Magic Kingdom guidebook and because this building takes its place
on the scale model of planning stage concepts.  I would bet that the
current look of Euro Disneyland's Discoveryland will be the "new face"
of the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland that Tony hinted at.
 
Tony showed a slide labelled "Indiana Jones Euro" about which he said
"pretend you can't read what it says at the top of the slide, because
we're not supposed to announce it yet!".
 
He spoke of an addition to Euro Disneyland called the Electrical Light
Gardens which would tell the story of Fantasia.
 
He said they are to get an updated Space Mountain called Discoveryland
Mountain which would continue the tradition of a dark indoor roller
coaster attraction, but with the addition of a first for any Disney
ride: loop the loops where you actually go upside down, a corkscrew,
and the "tube" where you go up and come back down.  This tube seems
like a cannon which shoots you quickly up to the top of the ride,
rather than the slower ascent in the Space Mountain attraction.  The
cannon is also a design feature atop the exterior of the building
(although most likely not the actual tube you travel in when you're on
the ride, especially if they keep the Magic Kingdom's version of it
with two working roller coasters under the same roof).  Discoveryland
Mountain would probably be a 1995 attraction, he said.
 
The Nautilus submarine ride is due in Euro Disneyland in 1994 and will
have a squid attack scene every bit as good as the dragon in the
castle's dungeon.
 
That park will also be getting a Little Mermaid carrousel.
 
Tony talked about the improvements Euro Disneyland's Pirates of the
Caribbean has, including sword fighting audio-animatronic pirates.
He said that despite the Imagineer's best efforts, the pirates have a
tendency to cut off each other's body parts -- so if you go there and
don't see the sword fight but instead see a curtain drawn across an
archway in the ride, it is because surgery is going on behind there!
 
Tony wrapped things up by showing us a slide from inside Pinocchio's
Village Haus restaurant (I'm not sure if it was at the Magic Kingdom
or Disneyland) of a small detail above an exit door.  Figaro the cat
was drawn above the door pulling the Exit sign -- this was done
because in the rush to construct it, it wasn't noticed until too late
that a beam in the wall above the door forced the lighted Exit sign to
be off-center in relation to the doorway.  To correct this out of
balance situation, the Imagineers painted Figaro next to the exit sign
since there wasn't time to remake the wall.  The combination of the
sign with Figaro next to it makes the entire thing look centered.  As
a joke, they painted Figaro as if he were pulling the sign to where it
should be -- centered over the door.  At Euro Disneyland they made
sure the Exit sign was properly centered over the door, and as a
little Imagineering joke painted Figaro above the door anyway -- but
this time he is winking and giving the "thumbs up" sign because they
finally got it right!
 
End of Tony Baxter's talk.  Next: Admiral Joe Fowler & Bob Matheison.

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