Disney's Jungle Cruise : The Movie

maybe they can make it about a spaceship being hauled over a moon mountain by a crazy space tycoon.

it was then that i decided to become an imagineer, but the university of michigan didn't offer that major

nah, the university was weird and didn't offer minors. I took film and philosophy classes instead.

ah yes. were TL and FL next to each other? I haven't been to disneyland in 23 years.

Also, the Imagination! bit of Epcot was like my favorite place in the world at age 13.

then again, don't we all want gleaming white jumpsuits of THE FUTURE

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c0/EPCOT_Center

Fun Fact: there is only one place you can get away with smoking weed at at Disneyland and its in one of the caves on Tom Sawyer's Island (if those are even still there).

i got to see the spacesuits and models from Alien, the holographic chess board from Star Wars, and one of the flying Spinner cars from Blade Runner. those were the highlights, hands down.

You get the Dole Whip there. its awesome.

So gotdamn OTM

(It killed an employee?!)

haha! I've never tried this due to having a friend who got out of the car (boat?) during the ride - ride was subsequently stopped, lights came on, security showed up, etc.

Its just funny how under total surveillance the park is - my dad used to work summers there as a security guard. he has stories that are alternately funny (The Star Wars Band and Kool and the Gang at the Carnation Pavilion!) and creepy (pedos trailing kids on Tom Sawyer's Island!)

BTW, its not a C/D thread, but huge DUD anyways to the miceage and mouseplanet's of the world. Nothing's more sad than grown men posting terse and highly critical stuff about how they saw a piece of peeling paint in Liberty Square that would cause the disembodied head of Walt Disney to spin in its cryogenic chamber.

!!! So lame! another piece o my childhood lost to the ages.

I was likewise pissed when they changed all the pirates in Pirates of the Caribbean to just chasing women with food and wine (instead of, y'know, women). I think they also removed the one ugly woman who was chasing a pirate...? Dumbest shit ever. Like pirates - PIRATES, PEOPLE! - are supposed to be role models for good behavior. wtf Disney.

Park guests aren't the only ones seduced to their deaths by the park's attractions. Consider the late, lamented "America Sings". It was seemingly designed strictly as a hazard to employees. Converted from the old General Electric Carousel of Progress, it featured six theaters revolving around a four part fixed stage of Disney audioanimatronic animal figures performing well-loved American songs. Even before its official 1974 opening, there was something sinister about this android musical spectacular. The tragedy to come was foreshadowed at the press preview party, when one of the attraction's designers fell into a pit and sustained slight injuries.

Disneyland ignored this omen, and opened "America Sings" to the public at the end of June. This decision would cost them the life of an innocent young hostess, the first Disneyland employee killed in the line of duty.

Deborah Stone had just graduated from nearby Santa Ana High. In many ways, she epitomized the crisp, clean all-American image encouraged among park employees. She edited her high school year book, belonged to the honor society and capped her high school career by winning the principal's award for "outstanding service to her school and community". Undoubtedly, she breezed through her coursework at the Disneyland University.

Yes, she had nothing but a bright future full of promise to look forward to on that tragic July night. There were no witnesses to her agonizing end, no spectacular fall or dramatic search. Around 11 PM, fellow employees noticed her missing from her post greeting guests. After a brief search, they found her crushed remains. As the theaters rotated about the fixed inner stage, she had been caught between a stationary wall and a moving wall. The attraction smashed her like a steamroller running over one of Disney's beloved characters in a hilarious act of animated mayhem. Except this was no cartoon, and there would be no animated sleight of hand to "uncrush" her. America Sings was closed for three days until a system of warning lights could be installed. But for one young hostess, it was a little too late.

Really trying not to imagine what happened to the Carousel of Progress cast member... ughhhh...

aw FUCK that one one of my favorite rides

Epcot 84 fucking ruled. Epcot 06 is still decent, but the loss of the original (read: sterile) Universe of Energy, World of Motion, and HORIZONS drools. Getting alcohol in World Showcase as the sun sets rules. The 45 minute line Spaceship Earth used to have in 1984 kinda ruled too, but equals to no line in 06. The taco stand in front of the Mexico pavillion rules.

BOMA, the African buffet in Animal Kingdom lodge is like, one of my favorite things in the world. California Grill atop the Contemporary Hotel is a bit snooty, but still rules. A scotch while watching fireworks over the 7 Seas Lagoon, like, rules and stuff.

Replacing the original Tiki Room with the Macarena Tiki Room drools. Using Esquivel as the Space Age music at the end of Space Mountian kinda rules. Removing the Raymond Scott soundtrack to the mid-90's upgrade of Tomorrowland drools.

Not sticking with a theme to Mickey's Birthdayland is kinda disorienting, but I'm also (surprisingly) not 7 years old.

Cosmic Ray's doesn't rule, but is needed and appreciated. Peoplemover will forever rule, and I dread the day they remove it. Flight to Mars's removal has forever left a scar on me.

They've long ago added breakaway walls to Carosel due to that accident...but what's kinda weird is the urban legend about someone being killed on the bucket thingies came true in recent years. Prior to that, some jackass jumped out of it a scratched himself up in the bushes, but not much more.

x-postage

OMG Boma does rule. The first time I ate there I had SEVEN plates of food. I am an athletic-ish, petite woman. It rocked. Love the Mexican food counter service, as mentioned. Getting alcohol and watching the laser/fireworks show is awesome, but the margaritas at the stand in Mexico are entirely mediocre.

http://z.about.com/d/hotels/1/0/v/8/akl-boma.jpg
http://www.wdisneyw.co.uk/photos/26804/BomaRotisserieMeatSalmon.jpg
http://jetsetenterprises.com/cruise/images/WDW-AKL-BomaRest.jpg

And since the Pirates movie was so successful they added Johnny Depp animatronics into the ride - maybe they'll do the same to Jungle Cruise if the movie is successful! Who would you like to see star in the movie and acquire a robot doppelganger?

okay actually I would probably cry if this happened.

In case for some reason, you ever end up in Europe wanting to go to a theme park, a lot of the larger ones have Pirates Of The Caribbean clones. Europa in Germany has one called Pirates of Bavaria, which is particularly interesting given that Bavaria is landlocked. I remember that Holiday Park's actually had exposed breasts, which was pretty damn surprising.

Oh, the US Disneys are adding in Jack Sparrow stuff to the Pirates rides. They went down for the overhaul back in February, and I think both of them are reopened now.

reddening is also right about the Nemo ride. Its been AWOL for a long time, but given the state of Tommorrowland there, especially with the long lines at Autotopia and the loss of the Rocket Rods, they had to put in something. Thus, Nemo's something or other.

Was the original Universe of Energy the program still running in 1992? Because I was like, 11 or something and fell asleep on it. I just dislike it period. Horizons and World Of Motion's closings sucked, even if I like Test Track. Wonders of Life being closed and used for nothing? Really sucks. The overhauls of Journey Into Imagination? I won't even talk about it. My girlfriend, the consumate Disney ex-employee and overall lover of the place warned me about it, but I had to know for myself.

Removing the Raymond Scott soundtrack to the mid-90's upgrade of Tomorrowland drools.

Heh...I like how they spent all this money redoing the Tommorrowland's, and then they like, failed. Miserably. They might as well just keep going with it.

Cosmic Ray's doesn't rule, but is needed and appreciated. Peoplemover will forever rule, and I dread the day they remove it. Flight to Mars's removal has forever left a scar on me.

I miss Flight To Mars because it was incredibly campy, but I understand the need to go on there.

Yep, nu-Pirates opened up in July. And I forgot that they also added a Geoffrey Rush animatronic! All of the new animatronics are pretty amazing to see, they really captured the swaying, perma-drunk thing Jack Sparrow had going on.

A couple of people mentioned the guy behind MiceAge being a dick, but I've always found it kind of fascinating that this one guy with a website manages to regularly get under the skin of this huge, formidable company. Also, I remember appreciating all of his shrill commentary back when Disneyland rides kept killing people due to poor maintenance.

Aw, I wish they still had some kind of show in that building instead of the come-inside-and-play-video-games thing that's there now. I vaguely remember the General Electric show that was in there before America Sings from when I was little.

We got to go to Club 33 once! We have friends that have been high power members for years and they had a party there. It is rad.

I don't like the changes they made to "Great Moments with Mister Lincoln" AT ALL.

A few responses to various random comments on the thread:

I'm not a fan of Pineapple, but my wife and her sister love the Pineapple whips and make a point of going there every time.

The new Tiki room really sucks. The annoying voice of Gilbert Godfrey plus Miami Sound Machine is not an improvement.

Everyone really like Boma, I'd kill to stay at that hotel, but it's too pricy for us.

We went to EPCOT during their food and wine festival and that was awesome. Lots of food stands all over the park with great little treats for not too much money.

I love the Norweigen restaurant, though they jacked up the price for the buffet there last year, so it is less of a good deal now.

We went to the Disney World Halloween event and it was kind of hectic, really good special fireworks though.

I really like Test Track and the Indiana Jones ride.

I find the Country Bears kind of disturbing.

Last time I went on Splash Mountain for the first time, and I think that is now my new favorite ride. I was scared shitless of the big drop at the end.

Universal Islands of Adventure in Orlando is pretty sweet too. The Hulk rollercoaster and the Spiderman rides are great.

My all time favorite is the Haunted Mansion. I hope they don't try updating it. I think it has aged really well and am impressed at how sophisticated it is given that it is some 40 odd years old.

seconded, I love that Spiderman ride, I didn't think they could pull off the 3-D thing to any effect but it's as thrilling as any actual rollercoaster. Did you try the Twin Dragons too? awesome. Hulk broke down 3 times in one day by my count but we ignored the omen and went on a bunch of times.
Went to Disney-MGM Studio too while I was in Orlando(we don't have it in Southern CA), the Tower of Terror was cool but the standout was the Mickey Mouse water show at night, forgot what it was called.

re: Haunted Mansion they've updated it to tie-in with Nightmare before Christmas but they might have restored it to the original version, I just went on it in May (in Orlando) butI can't remember.

Splash Mountain and Tower of Terror are both awesome. My husband and son and I all love Rock 'N Roller Coaster as well. And yes - the nightly show at MGM is called "Fantasmic," and it rocks. Between all those thoughts and the memory of Boma, I really wish I could head to Florida right now!

You don't have to stay there to eat there.

I think the up-and-down thing they've added to the drop on Tower of Terror sucks, but the theme to the ride is wonderful.

The launch on Rock n Roller Coaster is good.

There's a decent bakery in MGM too.

I love the sterile, boring old Universe of Energy. Very World's Fair propaganda style. The addition of Ellen is so-so to me, and I like Ellen.

I pretty much loathe Florida's Universal Studios, but Islands of Adventure is decent. No Cedar Point, but decent.

I fell asleep on the Universe of Energy last time we were there.

I deeply resent anyone that's gotten to go to Disney Tokyo. I have friends who went while in the country last year, and brought back video of pretty much all the big rides. Since the place is owned by the Yakuza, they hire the out the Imagineers and basically give them an unlimited budget to work off of, so they get stuff like a Test Track on steroids (Journey To The Center of The Earth) and Winnie The Pooh, which has jumping cars controlled by GPS. Its like technowonderland.