Is the era of oversized fiberglass objects over?  I think so.

I can appreciate a well-sculpted, well-painted, larger-than-life object used as a design element as much as the next guy… but where is the line drawn?  It started in the mid 90’s.  I’m not quite sure what started the trend, I only remember these things started to pop up everywhere.  We've seen very few of these recently.  Think about it.  The American Idol show would have had an 80 foot microphone stuck to the building if it opened in 2002.  I, for one, am happy to close this chapter in theme park history.

Top Ten List of Big and Tacky.

10)  Carousel of Progress Sign

A big gear to go along with the 1994 redesigned Magic Kingdom Tomorrowland.  In an attempt to make the land a little more industrial (for some reason), these huge gear shapes were implemented, including the pastel-colored shapes on the Carousel building itself.

9)  California Adventure’s Big Orange

Something about bees flying around the inside of an orange and you are the bees, sitting in revolving swings?  If you didn’t get a chance to hang out in this thing, I’m not sorry to announce it’s no longer there.  The rendering on the right depicts "The Silly Symphonies Swings", to replace the orange.

8)  Sorcerer’s Hat

No, it’s not “Sorcerer Mickey’s hat”.  The hat in the famous Fantasia short belonged to the actual sorcerer, not to Mickey Mouse.  Mickey was the lowly apprentice who stole the hat.  Ok.  This is one of the biggest of history’s big and tacky pieces.  Big enough to intentionally cover the view of the Chinese Theater (for some reason) and big enough to house a pin gift shop.

7)  Aerosmith Guitar

Well-crafted and hideous at the same time.  At least it’s at Hollywood Studios, right?  Probably part of the attempt to “reach the younger crowd.”  Awesome.

6) Astro Orbitor

A terrible entrance to a once beautiful land and a destroyer of the aesthetics of a once beautiful Hub.  But it's shiny.

5)  Pink Cinderella Castle Cake

I love this one.  Even the most mindless lover of anything Disney can agree that this is a big pink nightmare.  Ok, there are people who actually miss it.  I must say there is one redeeming quality to this big, partially inflatable, fake candy-covered, cake castle-  it was always intended to be temporary.

4)  All-Star Resorts

Wow.  This is the Holy Land for lovers of big and tacky messes.  And for high school groups needing on-property rooms for $79 a night.

3)  POP Century Resort

This is higher on my list than the All-Stars for one reason-  large wording on the side of the hotel buildings such as “Far Out!”, “Cool Dude”, “Awesome”, "Radical", “Groovy”, and other classy terms written 40 feet long.  It really is “awesome”.

2)  California Adventure’s Post Card Entrance

This is number 2 on the list because it involves AN ENTIRE ENTRANCE TO A THEME PARK.  And no one really notices what it is- it’s suppose to look like a thousand foot post card.  It’s being removed soon as part of the DCA revamp, and thank you for that.

1)  Mickey Hand on Spaceship Earth

A big giant joke.  “It will make kids like Epcot more.  Uhh huh.  Yeah.  This makes the top of the list because it desecrated one of the greatest theme park icons of all time.  I remember everyone saying “They can’t take it down 'cause it will affect the structural integrity of the big ball.”  WHAT?  The “big ball” had no problem standing on it’s own for 2 decades before Mickey’s hand came along.  Oh and take a look… it only looks like it’s connected but it doesn’t even touch SSE.  Thank you for taking this Disney World landfill.

Note:  The reason DHS's Toy Story Mania (with all the big toys everywhere) did not make the list is for the fact that the story is about small objects surrounded by seemingly large objects..

Click to Enlarge

I always hear how Disneyland is SOOO much smaller than the Magic Kingdom.  I always felt that it was not THAT much smaller geographically.  Some say the World Showcase Lagoon can fit another park within it's shores.  Either way, here is a look at the domestic Disney parks from high up in the air.  

These are all shown at the same scale, according to bing.com/maps, which I imagine is not one hundred percent accurate, but close enough.

Ahhh the Skyway.  There was something about seeing the Magic Kingdom (or Disneyland) from the air.  There is something magical about spitting on the heads of tourists below.  There was something about large industrial-looking metal poles in the middle of a charming European storybook village.  But like many things we grew up loving, Disney pulled the plug on this exciting attraction/mode of transportation.  You'll often hear, "It's because someone died.  That's why they closed it."  Sorry, but death is not enough for Disney to shut something down.  (Doesn't Mission:Space kill someone once a week?).  Attractions that "don't affect attendance" and ones that give guests a view of dirty rooftops that cost money to clean... that's a different story.

Hi there, Dopey.  Don't you just love when a cool ride gets turned into a character meet-and-greet?  (20.000 Leagues Under the Sea queue).  Or stroller parking? The Skyway to Tomorrowland ended up being both.  Only thing left, a gift shop.  There's got to be a way to take iconic, world-changing, multimillion dollar, works-of-art attractions and turn them each into an all-in-one  toddler playground/character meet/gift shop/stroller parking lot/boring touch screen exhibit/cement walkway.  Just a thought.

What's with all the cables?  The lower right photo has a power box with "SNOW" written on it.  Snow, as in Snow White?  Snow White's Scary Adventure is a hundred yards away.  I have no clue.

NOTE:  Do not attempt to enter the Skyway tower without permission.  These images and video were taken 2-3 years ago with permission.   I do not know the current state of the tower, nor have I been back since.

Let's thank our lucky stars for the unassuming fathers and mothers who had undying desires to film their families at Disney parks in decades past.  Let's be even more grateful to those who filmed less of their kids and more of the parks themselves.  
 

I stumbled upon this collection on Vimeo a while back and rather enjoy what this man has put together.  Martin started filming WDW in 1978 with no knowledge of how valuable that footage would become.  He provides a number of 'Ultimate Tributes' to things that catch my attention such as The Rivers of America WDW , Kitchen Kabaret, If You Had Wings and Dreamflight,  Carousel of Progress 75-94, American Adventure 82, and so much more.

Another great collection that I've loved for even longer is that of Widen Your World with their collection found on their YouTube Channel.  I can't imagine Martin and every other Walt Disney World history nut not depending on Widen Your World as the ultimate source of early WDW information.  Spending countless hours in WDW archives I've witnessed first-hand that the Disney Company itself depends on WYW as it's ultimate source of early WDW.  Celebrated director of the Walt Disney Archives in Burbank, Dave Smith, has referred me to the WYW site more than once.

Among my many favorite videos on this channel are Mickey Mouse Review Show Segments 1977, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride Track A and Track B, Space Mountain Movies Circa 1978 and 1981, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Port Ride Through 1990, and Disneyland Walt Disney Story Pre Show Owl.  (Yes there is great Disneyland stuff on this channel too.)

And as we've mentioned a number of times, Mesa Verde Times has an excellent collection of videos of guys sneaking around Horizons sets while the ride is in operation... if you are into that (I am!).

Fun.  I'm kinda surprised they went with an old-school attraction for this spot.  Not gonna complain.  At first I thought Donald Duck would jump out of the river water and Snow White would be skippering the boat, but it turns out to be pretty tasteful.  Check out the superimposed castle behind the elephant pool.

Florida

California

UPDATED 1-10-10 (with additional photos and text)

Announcing:  A new ongoing series featuring the parts of Disney theme parks we grew up loving, left to rot and decay.
 

We already featured ABANDONED DISNEY: River Country [Part 1] and [Part 2] and look forward to Part 3.

We welcome any photos you may have that fall into this category.  We are looking for photos of abandoned rides, ride vehicles props, animatronics, etc.

Don't worry- there will always be a never-ending supply of the 'abandoned'.   We all know about the ever more powerful attractions chopping block with a line-up of classic, world-changing, fantastic rides just waiting their turn on this theme park death row.  It really warms the heart.

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To officially get this series going, we present to you some abandoned animatronic figures from our favorite futuristic adventure, Horizons (a ride abandoned only long enough to pull up the wrecking ball).

Where are they now?  These naked animatronics are piled up under The Carousel of Progress.  Yep, in the basement of the C.O.P building directly under one of the stages.  The Carousel of Progress in it's round building is divided into 6 pie-shaped pieces- one for each of the 4 acts plus 2 small stages for load and unload.  Under these stages are pie-shaped maintenance and storage rooms.  Remember, the center portion of the building is stationary.  Only the outer portion with seating rotates.

One (somewhat) redeeming part of this story is the fact that these figures are not completely abandoned.  Their parts are used for the C.O.P family.  I imagine some of these pieces are from other attractions.  If you think you recognize any of the parts, let us know!

Photo of Horizons dad decorating cake courtesy of Mesa Verde Times.  Thank you Hoot and Massimo for identifying some of the above animatronics!

Look for more 'Abandoned Disney' post coming soon.

This looks like fun.  Once upon a time I (not pictured) painted animatronics.  I used paint on my brushes because I was not as good as these ladies who could paint without paint.  And you've gotta paint a president's face from over his shoulder- remember that.

(Scanned from the book, One Day at Disney)

[ ARTICLES ]

A reader of the blog submits this optimistic look at early roots of Imagineering that still exist at Disneyland today.  Literal and symbolic layers have been added to Disneyland over the decades.  It’s nice to be reminded that a lot of these early “layers” still play a part in Disney park experience.   I only hope that future layers can reflect the wonder and marvel of these first layers and not be layers of pure tackiness that we’ve seen in recent years.  Just sayin’.   -Admin

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Whenever I think about Disneyland, and how it grew, literally, from an Orange grove in Anaheim, California, I am continually amazed at how its roots were planted, and even after all these years since its groundbreaking, those roots still exist; the roots of imagineering.

 Walt Disney has been quoted as saying that Disneyland will always evolve and change - never to be static. It was designed from the beginning to set sights on the future and pay homage to the past.

But, even as time moves on, and new 'layers' are added onto the existing structure of the park itself, I hold on to the memories of those that first set in stone, the 1st layers of Imagineering. When visiting Disneyland, one feels a sense of the original Imagineers there in the park as though they are always present, watching over the park and guiding its visions for today’s Imagineering and the art of Illusioneering.

"X" Atencio, Marc Davis, Claude Coats, "Rolly" Crump, Harriet Burns, Blaine Gibson, just to mention a few, these men and women were, in a sense, tasked by Walt Disney, to move imagineering from the 2D world into the 3D world. They began what really became a science in creating illusions;    Read more

This is fun to watch during the holidays.  Not directly Christmas-related by it fits the season.  "Ben and Me" was released in 1953 and is a great little piece of animation.  The story is by the great story teller Bill Peet and art direction by Ken Anderson (of Walt's 'Nine Old Men') and Claude Coats who later went on to work for W.E.D. Imagineering (Haunted Mansion, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Alice, Subs, Pirades, etc.)  

This has some of that same spirit you get at The American Adventure and Liberty Square.  Enjoy.

We are very sad to announce the passing of Roy E. Disney.  He helped save the Disney Company more than once.  He contributed to Disney film making, he supported Disney animation and parks when other company executives would not.  He led the "Save Disney Campaign" in 2004, ultimately leading to the resignation of Eisner.  He knew Walt (his uncle) well and always tried to stand for what he represented.  As a child he literally sat at the feet of Walt to hear first-hand the ideas of the genius himself.

You will be missed.

Official Company Statement

A Message from Bob Iger, CEO, The Walt Disney Company: Roy E. Disney Passes
 
Dear Cast Members,

It is with great sadness that I inform you of the passing of our friend and colleague Roy E. Disney. After a courageous year-long fight with stomach cancer, he passed away peacefully this morning at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, surrounded by his loving family.

Roy played an important role in our lives here at Disney, and in the success of our Company over many years. Along the way, he touched many of us in a personal way. During his 56-year association with the Company, his true passion and focus was preserving and building upon the amazing legacy of Disney animation that was started by his father and uncle. His commitment to the art of animation was unparalleled and will always remain his personal legacy and one of the greatest contributions to Disney's past, present and future.

Roy not only helped to keep the legacy alive, but he also embraced new technologies, and gave the filmmakers the tools they needed to tell their stories in new and exciting ways. He encouraged talent, and loved working with the creative community. And they loved working with him.

Roy was a Disney Legend in every sense of the word, and his contributions to this great Company have been profound and will always be remembered. For the next week we will be flying the Disney flag at half mast here at the Studio and at our parks, and I know you join me in sending thoughts and prayers to Roy's wife, Leslie, his four children, and his 16 grandchildren. For those who wish to pay their respects, the family has requested that donations be made in Roy's name to the California International Sailing Association (CISA) to benefit youth sailing.
 

Bob