Hong Kong Disneyland

Main Street Haunted Hotel

2008-09-29T08:37:00.009-07:00

Main Street Haunted Hotel is an exclusive attraction at Hong Kong Disneyland in Hong Kong for the Disney's Haunted Halloween event, which is located in the Main Street, U.S.A.. Unlike Haunted Mansion in other Disney parks, Main Street Haunted Hotel is a thrilling walk-through attraction, with living haunts and specters appearing around every corner and along the hallways inside the hotel. The attraction also fills with detail scene settings, audio and theatrical effects in order to maximise guest's experience.

It was officially open in 25 September 2007 until 31 October 2007. The attraction reopens on 26 September 2008 for the 2008 Halloween season.

Mad Tea Party

2008-09-29T08:37:00.007-07:00

Mad Tea Party is a at the Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland theme parks around the world. Located in Fantasyland, it is one of the few remaining attractions operational on Disneyland's opening day in 1955. The ride theme is from the Unbirthday Party scene of 's of the story ''Alice In Wonderland''. The ride has gained infamy over the years for the amount of guests who get motion sickness as a result of the spinning part of the ride.

* In Tokyo Disneyland, it is called ''Alice's Tea Party''.

* In Disneyland Paris, it is called ''Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups''.

* In Hong Kong Disneyland, it is called ''Mad Hatter Tea Cups''

Attraction facts

* Ride system: Three small turntables, which rotate counter clock-wise, each holding six teacups, within one large turntable, rotating clockwise

* Restrictions: The original attraction at Disneyland is unable to run in the rain, once the turntables are saturated with a moderate amount of water they slip and can no longer spin. All other versions of this attraction at Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland are covered to prevent such situations, as well as protect riders from extreme heat and sun.

Lucky the Dinosaur

2008-09-29T08:37:00.005-07:00

Lucky the Dinosaur is an approximately 8 foot tall green biped dinosaur which pulls a flower-covered cart and is lead by "Chandler the Dinosaur Handler".

Lucky premiered at Disney's California Adventure and came to the area of Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World from June 2005 to August 2005. He was then moved to Hong Kong Disneyland for celebrating the grand opening of the park in September 2005. Eventually, Lucky is meant to find a permanent home in Disney's California Adventure. In the mean time, he occasionally makes guest appearances, for example at the street fair of the 2008 World Science Festival.

Lucky is notable in that he was the first free-roving audio-animatronic figure ever created by . The flower cart he pulls conceals the computer and power source. Lucky is capable of moving, vocalizing, and responding to guests.

Jungle Cruise

2008-09-29T08:37:00.003-07:00

The Jungle Cruise is an attraction at the following Disney theme parks: Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland . Disneyland Paris is the only ''Magic Kingdom''-style Disney theme park that does not have the Jungle Cruise in its attraction roster, though an indoor jeep ride called Jungle Expedition was originally planned instead.

Ride description

The attraction simulates a riverboat cruise down several of Asia, Africa and South America. Park guests board replica tramp steamers and are taken on a voyage past many different jungle animals. The tour is led by a live Disney delivering a humorous preset narration.

Inspiration & Design

Sources of inspiration for the attraction include a 1955 about a pride of lions, and the movie “The African Queen”. Harper Goff referenced the ''African Queen'' frequently in his ideas; even his designs of the ride vehicles were modeled after the used in the film. The project was placed on the schedule to open with the July 17, 1955 debut of Disneyland.

When plans began to develop, Bill Evans, the Imagineer responsible for landscaping Disneyland and most of Walt Disney World , faced the daunting task of foresting an entire jungle on a limited budget. Aside from importing many actual , he made wide use of “character plants” which while not necessarily exotic could give the appearance of exoticism in context. In a particularly well-known trick, he uprooted local trees and "replanted" them upside-down, growing vines on the exposed roots. The clean water was dyed brown to prevent visitors from seeing the bottom of the “river”, which varies between three and eight feet deep.

Although Goff and Evans can be credited with the creation and initial design of the ride, Marc Davis added his own style to the ride in later versions and DL-version updates. The "Indian Elephant Bathing Pool" and "Rhinoceros Chasing Explorers up a Pole" were among his contributions.

Effect on Walt Disney

In a popular story recounted by Jeff Lange, a writer for weblogging site Jim Hill Media, an experience at the Jungle Cruise helped bolster Walt Disney's obsession with the concept of 'plussing', or continuous improvement. The story claims that Walt overheard a mother visiting Disneyland telling her child that since they had been on the ride the last time they visited the park, they didn't need to ride it again. In horror, he put his Imagineers to work designing upgrades to the ride. Many similar variations of this story exist.

At Disneyland

The attraction was in the opening day roster of the park, and has remained open and largely unchanged in theme and story since then. Aside from alterations and maintenance changes, four completely new show scenes have been added to date. In 1995 the river channel was rerouted to make way for the queue buildings and entrance courtyard of the Indiana Jones Adventure.

While the current version and all later instances have made use of a comedic spiel, filled with bad puns and malaprops, the original intent of the ride was to provide a realistic, believable voyage through the world's jungles. The original spiel had no jokes and sounded much like the narration of a nature . Since its removal, it has become legendary among Disney fans. Competitions in which contestants compete to say the seven-minute spiel the fastest have been held.

Attraction Summary

The queue and station are themed as the headquarters and boathouse of a River Expedition Company, located in a Colony of the 1930s. The queuing area is cluttered with appropriate , such as pinned insects under glass, an old radio on top of the bookshelf, and a chessboard with miniature animals and decorated shotgun shells replacing the . The extended queue winds upstairs, underneath an animatronic hornbill, and then downstairs again. Big band music from the 1930s plays overhead, punctuated by jungle-related news bulletins, helping to reinforce the setting.

Once aboard the boats, the guests are introduced to their and they head into the jungle . The first river simulated is the Mekong. The boats sail through a dense rainforest, and an ancient Cambodian shrine where they see a Bengal Tiger, giant spiders, king cobras and crocodiles. Passing Hindu statues, the boats enter the Sacred Indian Elephant Bathing Pool where dozens of Indian elephants frolic in the water and squirt water at the passing vessels.

The theme transitions to the , and riders see a family of baboons, and safari camp that has been overrun by gorillas. The boats careen past the dramatic waterfall Falls, between two African Elephants, and large termite mounds. A tableau of the African Veldt follows, showing zebras, wildebeest, and giraffes watch a pride of lions feasting on a zebra beneath a rocky outcropping. Beyond the lion's den, an angry rhinoceros has chased a safari party up a tree. Antelope and hyenas watch from nearby. The skipper then pilots the boat into a large pool, disturbing a pod of that their intent to attack the boat. Armed with a gun , the skipper fires into the air to frighten them away.

Drums and chanting are heard as the boats come to country. The vehicles pass a native village before sailing into an ambush by natives wielding spears, .

The boats pass behind Schweitzer Falls to enter the Amazon River. Skeletal animal remains and warning signs featuring pictures of dagger-toothed fish forewarn the next show scene, where the boats encounter a swarm of leaping piranha. The guests then pass a pool of , and meet shrunken head dealer Trader Sam before returning to the dock.

Major refurbishments

* 1962 - Addition of Indian Elephant pool

* 1964 - Addition of African Veldt and Lost Safari scenes

* 1993 - Various minor additions

* 1994 - Addition of boathouse queue

* 1995 - Rerouting of river for the Indiana Jones Adventure

* 1997 - Original ride vehicles replaced

* 2005 - Various replacement/reconstruction, addition of Piranhas, and updates to Gorilla Camp scene

Specific Changes

The baboons at the safari camp used to sit on the African termite mounds. A total of six lions have been removed since opening day; one that growled when the African Veldt was added, two lionesses from the Veldt that were fighting over a bloody strand of zebra meat, a lion and a lioness that each had a zebra leg in their mouth and a dead, hanging on a spit over a fire in the native village. Also removed from the Veldt were African wild dogs barking at the pride. The native village was originally a dense jungle filled with tikis, masks, and several more natives. Trader Sam used to wear a mask and a gorilla across the channel was trying to grab his merchandise.

Boats

There are 12 vehicles, with a maximum of 8 in operation at any given time. The boats in 1955 were painted as clean, idealized replicas, but have since been given a more realistic theming reflecting the grunge and wear of actual watercraft.

Names in Use:

*Amazon Belle

*Congo Queen

*Ganges Gal

*Hondo Hattie

*Irrawaddy Woman

*Kissimmee Kate

*Nile Princess

*Orinoco Adventuress

*Suwannee Lady

*Ucayali Una

*Yangtze Lotus

*Zambezi Miss

Names Decommissioned in 1997:

*Magdalena Maiden

*Mekong Maiden

At the Magic Kingdom & Tokyo Disneyland

The Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland versions are similar to each other, the main difference being direction; the Magic Kingdom river flows counter clock-wise, while Tokyo Disneyland's operates clock-wise. Also, the spiels in Tokyo are delivered in .

Magic Kingdom

The skippers at the Magic Kingdom don't carry revolvers with blanks in them anymore. The real guns have been replaced with realistic looking props that trigger an electronic gunshot sound through the boat's audio system.

Near the Hippo Pool, a piece of a downed airplane can be seen along the shoreline. This is the back half of the Lockheed L-12 Electra Junior that can be seen in scene on The Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Boats

There are 16 vehicles, with a maximum of 10 in operation at any given time.

Current Boats

* Annie

* Bertha

* Connie

* Gertie

* Irma

* Millie

* Nile Nellie

* Ida

* Rutshuru Ruby

* Sadie

* Sal

* Lolly

* Val

* Wanda

* Zelda

Retired Boats

* Kate

Tokyo Disneyland

Very similar to the Walt Disney World version, although the station and surrounding area are themed to a more upscale African city, as opposed to an isolated jungle outpost. This version shares a station building with the park's steam train ride, Western River Railroad. The boats travel clockwise rather than counter clockwise and the skippers bow after every to joke to his or hers' audience.

Boats

There are 13 vehicles, with a maximum of 12 in operation at any given time.

* Amazon Annie

* Congo Connie

* Ganges Gertie

* Irrawaddy Irma

* Kwango Kate

* Nile Nelly

* Orinoco Ida

* Rutshuru Ruby

* Sankuru Sadie

* Senegal Sal

* Volta Val

* Wamba Wanda

* Zambezi Zelda

At Disneyland Paris

Unlike the other parks there is no Jungle Cruise style attraction due to the cold temperature and weather of France. However a similar attraction called "Jungle Expedition" was planned where guests would board a jeep and traverse a steamy jungle which was under the protection of a glass roof to keep elements out. The jeeps would have passed giraffes, a pool of hippos under a suspension bridge, and a large temple where guests would have witnessed the "I Wanna Be Like You" segment from the Disney film, The Jungle Book, complete with audio animatronic versions of Mowgli, King Louie, Baloo, Bagheera, and the Monkeys. The jeeps then would have been chased by a tiger before returning to the load area.

At Hong Kong Disneyland

The shape of Hong Kong Disneyland's route is significantly different compared to the others, and it includes a grand finale with a battle between angry fire and water gods.

In addition, there are three languages regularly available: Cantonese, Mandarin, and English. Each language has a separate queue line, allowing visitors to experience the journey in their preferred languages.

Attraction Summary

The queue takes place in a small boathouse less elaborate then the other boathouses found at the other parks. After winding through the queue guests board one of the boats and meet their skipper who speaks either English, Cantonese, or Mandarin, to accompany the park's guests who speak many different languages themselves. The boats then sail off and head down river past Tarzan's Treehouse where the skipper tells guests to wave goodbye to the guests traversing the treehouse for they will never see them again. The boats then drift past a mother Indian elephant and her calf playing in the water, followed by another elephant showering in a waterfall. A large bull Indian elephant emerges from the water squirting a plume of water at the boats with the guests narrowly avoiding the free shower. The vessels then drift down a narrow stream past ancient Cambodian ruins which has been claimed by the jungle. Giant spiders and king cobras watch the boats as they move on. Up ahead several crocodiles are seen resting on a small beach when a school of hungry piranha jump up trying to attack guests. The boats escape into Africa where they pass a large safari camp where several curious gorillas have discovered clothes, guns, hammocks, and books, as the "Trashing the Camp" song from Tarzan plays on a nearby 1930's radio. The African Veldt comes into view where antelope, giraffes, zebras, and African elephants stare at the boats. The vessels then drift into a small pool where a pod of hippos try to tip the boat. Several feet ahead a rhino is seen chasing a safari group up a tree while several hyenas look on laughing. Skulls and cloth impaled on broken bamboo sticks appears as tribal drums and horns fill the air. The skipper tells guests that they have entered head hunter country and must quietly sneak by. The boats slowly pass through the main village where several upright shields rest in the tall grass. A native notices the boats and all the shields now revealed to have head hunters behind them begin firing spears and poison darts at the boats as they narrowly escape into a rocky canyon. In the rocky canyon the boats stop near two weird rock formations that look like faces, revealed by the skipper to be the fire god and the water god who are constantly feuding about their differences. The fire god sets the river ablaze while the water god vomits a water bomb, causing the flames to die and the whole canyon to become a cloud of steam. The boats escape the canyon and pass a baby elephant before returning to the boathouse.

Major renovations

* 2006 - Piranha attack, and Trapped Safari scenes added, enhancement of Gorilla Camp, African Veldt, and Headhunter's Territory

* 2007 - Temporary scene added during the "Pirate Takeover" event

Boats

There are 9 vehicles, with a maximum of 8 in operation at any given time.

* Amazon Annie

* Congo Queen

* Ganges Gal

* Irrawaddy Irma

* Lijiang Lady

* Mekong Maiden

* Nile Nellie

* Yangzi Ying Ying

* Zambezi Zelda

In Popular Culture

*There was a tribute to the ride in 2005 on an episode of the podcast The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd, as well as a Strong Bad E-mail entitled "theme park".

*In the sing along songs video during "Following the Leader", Jungle Cruise made an appearance.

*Jungle Cruise was parodied as ''Timon and Pumbaa's Virtual Safari'' on The Lion King Special Edition.

Film adaptation

''The Jungle Cruise'' is an announced Disney motion picture loosely inspired by the theme park attraction of the same name.

The film, originally scheduled for release in 2007, has experienced various delays and changes. Shooting of the film, originally schedule for 2006, was postponed. Moreover, the original screenplay by Josh Goldstein and John Norville was reportedly rewritten by Al Gough and Miles Millar.

The film follows a group's riverboat journey through a jungle in search of a cure.

Further details have not been forthcoming, apart from confirmation that the film is set in the twentieth century. It will also have the name, 'Heart of Darkness'.

Jungle Cruise joke lists

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It's a Small World

2008-09-29T08:37:00.001-07:00

It's a Small World is an attraction at several Walt Disney theme parks: Disneyland , the Magic Kingdom , Tokyo Disneyland, at Disneyland Resort Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland. The ride features a multitude of audio-animatronic figures in the style of children of the world singing the ride's title track , which has a theme of global peace.

History

In 1956, Walt Disney attended a conference, along with many other notable celebrities of the time, at the invitation of President Eisenhower. The conference was about founding a national organization to help promote world peace through international civilian travel. Inspired by the ideas from the meeting, Disney returned to California and set to work, creating the "It's A Small World" ride at Disneyland.

Like several other Disneyland attractions, "It's a Small World" originated with the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair After the fair closed, the ride was transferred to Disneyland along with three other attractions from the fair that year; Primeval World Diorama, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and the Carousel of Progress.

The attraction's design was done by Mary Blair, who was also an art director on several . Like many Disneyland and Walt Disney World attractions, scenes and characters were designed by Marc Davis, while his wife, Alice Davis, designed the costumes for the dolls. Blaine Gibson sculpted the animatronic figures, while Harriet Burns painted them. Many of the dolls were created by Joyce Carlson who is honored with a shop window along the Magic Kingdom's Main Street U.S.A. The sign there reads: "Dolls by Miss Joyce, Dollmaker for the World." Rolly Crump designed the Tower of the Four Winds .

The name of the ride was originally "children of the world". When Walt Disney demonstrated it to songwriters Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman, the ride's soundtrack featured numerous national anthems all playing at once. Disney said, "I need one song." In response, the brothers wrote one of the best known Disney tunes of all time: ''It's a Small World ''. It is argued that the song may be the most performed and translated song on earth. Rumors of removing the rainforest scene for a United States scene were squashed by a memo from Marty Sklar, but various Disney characters will seamlessly be added throughout the attraction, which has received mixed feedback.

Characteristics

Exterior

The outer of the building at Disneyland presents very stylized flat cut-out turrets and towers, minarets and domes, some vaguely reminiscent of world landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Surrounding them are numerous squares, triangles and rectangles. A major feature is a gigantic three-dimensional clock with a round, happy face that swings back and forth. On the quarter-hour, wooden dolls representing different cultures parade out of the clock. After the last dolls exit the clock, a pair of giant doors swings open to reveal two large toy blocks — one block with the hour, and one block with the minutes, written in highly stylized numerals — then a tolls indicating the time.

The exterior has been slightly redesigned and repainted over the years, first as all-white with gold trim, then in shades of blue colors, then in pink and white with pastel accents. Currently it is all-white with gold trim, as it was in the 1960s. The gardens around the building are decorated with topiary animals.

Disneyland

The boats travel through a tunnel into the show building, which is much larger than the fa?ade and is located backstage between the back of Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin and the roundhouse for the Disneyland Railroad and Disneyland Monorail System. This portion of the ride features stylized dolls in national costumes singing the title song in numerous languages. At Disneyland, boats carrying the riders visit the regions of the world in separate rooms:

* The Hello Room greets the guests to the attraction, showing different cultural greetings from around the world.

* The Scandinavia/North Pole room, with dolls representing Scandinavia, with the song sung in .

* Europe, with the song sung in with a Cockney , and as well as having a yodeler in the section representing Switzerland.

* Asia, with the song sung in .

* Africa, with the rhythm of the song marked with drums and then sung in English.

* South America, with the song sung in Spanish.

* South Seas, with the song sung with an underwater gurgling sound by mermaids for the first section of the room , and the traditional Polynesian version of the song throughout the rest of the room.

* New Guinea, a small, relatively dark room with a rainforest scene and native drummers playing the song rhythmically

* The Finale Room, with representatives from all the cultures of the world dressed in white versions of their native costumes and singing in English in unison. A cowboy and standing together are the only dolls during the ride that represent the United States. The Finale Room was inspired by the final verse of the Christmas hymn, Once In Royal David's City, which says, "When like stars, His children crowned,/All in white, shall wait around."

At the other Disney parks, the path of the flume winds around one large room, emphasizing its theme that the world is small and interconnected. The order in which the countries appear and the countries that are represented vary in each version of the ride.

* All parks but Hong Kong do not begin with a separate room for the Arctic; the Scandinavian dolls are in the Europe room.

* In Paris, in addition to French, the song is sung in German and English. In Hong Kong, the song is sung in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese.

Magic Kingdom

* At the Magic Kingdom in Florida, the ride underwent a major refurbishment from May 2004 to March 2005, reopening with a sound system, a few new animatronic figures and a loading area similar to the ride's fa?ade at Disneyland.

* The rainforest scene is in the Latin America room.

* The Goodbye room shows different postcards and parting phrases from different cultures around the world, though in the Magic Kingdom version, there are flowers instead.

* The nearby Pinocchio Village Haus restaurant overlooks the queue area.

Tokyo Disneyland

The Tokyo Disneyland version of the attraction is similar to the Magic Kingdom version except for these differences:

*The exterior is like Disneyland's, while the interior is similar to the Magic Kingdom version.

*The finale is sung in Japanese and the Japanese version sung in the Asian section is different from the Magic Kingdom version, and the rest of the Disney parks.

*The Goodbye scene is much smaller

Disneyland Park

In Disneyland Resort Paris, the ride is different from, but similar to, the other versions of the ride. The backgrounds and music are all different and there is a new room: a North America room, with dolls representing Canada and the United States. This version also has a complete Middle Eastern section in which the song is sung in Arabic. In the finale scene, the song is sung in German and English as well as French.

Hong Kong Disneyland

The Hong Kong Disneyland version opened on April 28, 2008 with 38 classic Disney characters added to scenes where their stories originated. This version also features an expanded Asian scene, a Middle Eastern scene and a new scene for North America. The finale features a spectacular "curtain call" with some extraordinary optical lighting effects not seen on any other Disney ride.

The song "it's a small world " is sung in 9 different languages. Among those languages, , , and are unique to Hong Kong Disneyland. The finale is sung in 3 languages: , and . In an interesting design twist, the only two bridge structures that cross over the flume path of the boats are San Francisco's Golden Gate and a traditional Chinese garden bridge . They serve to symbolically link the United States with China. The attraction is the largest indoor ride at Hong Kong Disneyland, and the location of the ride is beyond the Disneyland Railroad next to The Golden Mickeys attraction.

There are 11 scenes in this ride:

*Welcome

*North Pole

*Europe

*Middle East

*Africa

*Americas

*Asia

*Islands

*Rainforest

*Finale

*Goodbye

The 38 Disney characters that appear in this ride include:

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*Simba

*

*

*Mufasa

*Jose Carioca

*Donald Duck

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*Baloo

*Mowgli

*

*Mushu

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Holiday season

Since 1997, Disneyland has featured "it's a small world holiday" during the Christmas and winter seasons. The attraction is usually closed in October to receive temporary holiday decorations inside and outside, only to reopen in early November before the start of the busy holiday tourist season. The overlay has proved very popular and at one point during its run needed the use of FASTPASS machines . The attraction is the same boat voyage through many regions of the world featuring choruses of children singing. During the ride, the main theme song is not played fully, but instead the children of the world sing "Jingle Bells" and a bridge of "Deck the Halls" added to the main theme. The holiday overlay has since been implemented at Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris .

During the 2005–2006 holiday season, in order to remove some of the massive crowds from the main plaza during the popular Remember... Dreams Come True fireworks spectacular, a second viewing station was installed at "it's a small world." At the same time, the outdoor fa?ade incorporated a sophisticated, elaborate multi-media presentation projected on the colored patterns of the outer fa?ade each quarter hour after dusk.

The song

The well-known is due not only to its constant repetition for the duration of the ride , but Robert B. Sherman explains that the structure of the song may also play a role:

:Like many songs, "It's a Small World" has a verse and a chorus. One thing which makes this song particularly 'catchy' is that the verse and chorus work in counterpoint to each other. This means that you can play the same chords over and over again, but with different melodies. The repetitive, yet varied pattern tricks your mind into absorbing the work without it becoming tiresome to your ear .

Additionally, the World's Fair version of the song is the one commonly heard on various Disney compilation albums. The song also inspired a Disney Read-Along.

The song was later given two covers for the dance video game Dance Dance Revolution Disney Mix: a Eurobeat cover by ABeatC All Stars and a Happy Hardcore instrumental remix entitled ''"IT'S A SMALL WORLD "'' by and , which featured sampling of Donald Duck and was the hardest song in the game.

In Ecuador, this song serves as a theme for the chain of toy stores called Mi Juguetería. The original 1964 version of the song can be heard as one enters the store.

Attraction facts and figures

Disneyland attraction version:

* Animated/unanimated figures: 400

* Slogan: The happiest cruise that ever sailed 'round the world.

* Ticket Required: ""

Magic Kingdom attraction version:

* Grand Opening: October 1, 1971

** Closing Date: May 2, 2004

* Grand Re-Opening: March 18, 2005

* Flume capacity: 500,000 US gallons of water

* Animated/unanimated figures: 472

** Audio-Animatronics Dolls: 289

** Toys: 147

** Animated Props: 36

* Slogan: The happiest cruise that ever sailed the seven seas.

Disneyland Paris attraction version:

* Slogan: The happiest cruise that ever sailed around the world.

Hong Kong Disneyland attraction version:

* Grand Opening: April 27, 2008

* Opening Day: April 28, 2008

* Ride Area: 83,500 sq ft

* Animated/unanimated figures: 514

** Audio-Animatronics Dolls: 202

** Disney Characters: 38

** Toys: 220

** Animated Props: 42

* Slogan: ''Rediscover the world of laughter.''

Pop culture references

Due to the popularity of the song, the song and ride have been spoofed many times in popular culture.

*In the hit 1994 film ''The Lion King'', the primary antagonist, asks Zazu to "sing something with a little--''bounce'' in it." Zazu responds by beginning to sing ''It's a Small World'' when Scar cuts him off by saying, "No! Anything but ''that''."

*''Family Guy'' spoofed the ride in the episode ''The Courtship of Stewie's Father'', where is found lost at Walt Disney World and is taken by Disney security guards to a ride called ''It's a Tiny World''. Stewie is chained to the ride and is forced to sing ''It's a Tiny World'' as a tiny Dutch boy, otherwise he'll be forced to be in . He is freed by by the end of the episode.

*The series ''My Life as a Teenage Robot'' parodied the ride in the episode '''' as ''The World Ain't So Big''.

*In Shrek, when Donkey and Shrek are in Duloc, the song that the puppets sing is a spoof of ''It's a Small World''.

*A fourth-season episode of ''The Simpsons'', "Selma's Choice," involves Aunt Selma taking Bart and Lisa Simpson to Duff Gardens, a Disneyland-style amusement park dedicated to Duff Beer. Its rides include a boat ride in which animatronic children extol the virtues of Duff, singing a song - 'Duff Beer for me! Duff Beer for You! I'll have a Duff! You have one too!'

*In Rugrats in Paris in Reptarland the children, Coco, and Charles enter a take on "It's a Small World" called "It's a Ooey Gooey World" with a catchy song.

*In the Pokémon episode "Enter Galactic", James sings "It's a new world after all" to the tune.

*In an episode of the Adult Swim series entitled The Oblongs where Bob Oblong gets a jaw disorder in the scene where they are at Bob's work, they go on a ride called "It's a Third World After All", which is an obvious spoof on It's a Small World After All.

*In ''The Return of Jafar'', Genie sings a brief melody of "It's a Small World".

*In ''College Road Trip'', Doug says, "In the words of my favorite ride ever, It's a Small World After All."

Hong Kong Disneyland: The Grand Opening Celebration Album

2008-09-29T08:36:00.011-07:00

Hong Kong Disneyland: The Grand Opening Celebration Album was the soundtrack for the grand opening of Hong Kong Disneyland at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. Much of the album is made up of cover versions of animated Disney films, and the package contained a DVD featuring music videos for some of the songs. The album does not contain any music used in the park. Out of print.

Track listing

#Jacky Cheung - Let the Wonder Soar

# - It's A Small World

#Eason Chan - A Whole New World

#Karen Mok - When You Wish upon a Star

# -

#Jolin Tsai - Under the Sea

#Kellyjackie - On a Date With Him to Disneyland

#Nicholas Tse - Bare Necessities

#CoCo Lee - Colors of the Wind

#Joey Young - Undying True Love

#Kelly Chen -

#Harlem Yu - Can You Feel the Love Tonight

#Jacky Cheung - Let the Wonder Soar

Hong Kong Disneyland

2008-09-29T08:36:00.009-07:00

Hong Kong Disneyland is the first theme park inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and is owned and managed by the Hong Kong International Theme Parks, an incorporated company jointly owned by The Walt Disney Company and the Government of Hong Kong.

The fifth Disneyland style park, the park is located on in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. After years of negotiations and construction, the park opened to visitors on September 12 2005, considered an auspicious date according to for the opening of a new business. Disney attempted to avoid problems of cultural backlash by attempting to incorporate Chinese culture, customs, and traditions when designing and building the resort, including adherence to the rules of Feng Shui.

The park consists of four themed lands similar to other Disneyland parks: Main Street, U.S.A., Fantasyland, Adventureland and Tomorrowland. There is as yet no Frontierland, although it may be included in future expansion projects. The theme park's cast members use and , including Cantonese and Mandarin dialects, to communicate verbally. Guide Maps are printed in both Traditional and Simplified characters, , and in English.

The capacity of the park is 34,000 visitors per day, and is the smallest Disneyland park. It has so far fallen short of meeting its targeted visitorship figures. The park attracted 5.2 million visitors in its first year, below its target of 5.6 million. Visitor numbers fell 20% in the second year to 4 million, which was below company targets, inciting criticisms from local legislators.

The resort currently has , with the actual park taking approximately . With its small size cited often to explain its under-performance, the park has announced various plans for expansion. The classic Disney attraction, "it's a small world", opened on 28 April 2008. Furthermore, according to Bill Ernest, the former executive vice president and managing director of Hong Kong Disneyland, the park is planning to add two unique theme lands in its future expansion. Over a 15 year expansion period, the park capacity will increase to handle up to 10 million visitors annually.

Dedication

and Donald Tsang, September 12, 2005

Construction

An audience of more than 400 guests celebrated the ground breaking of Hong Kong Disneyland on January 12, 2003.Those present included Tung Chee Hwa, then Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China; Michael D. Eisner, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company; and Robert A. Iger, President of The Walt Disney Company.

On September 23, 2004, a special "castle topping ceremony" was held in the park to commemorate the placing of the tallest turret on Sleeping Beauty Castle. Among those present were Tung Chee Hwa, then Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Jay Rasulo, president of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts; Michael Eisner, then CEO of The Walt Disney Company; and Bob Iger, president of The Walt Disney Company, in addition to Mickey Mouse and other costumed characters. Hong Kong Disneyland had the shortest construction period among all of the Disneyland-style theme parks.

The park adds new attractions continuously. ''See for more details''

Themed areas

The park currently features four themed lands similar to those at other Disneyland parks: Main Street, U.S.A., Adventureland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. The park is missing a classic land, Frontierland, but it may be built in the future.

Main Street, U.S.A.

*Animation Academy

*Art of Animation

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*Main Street Vehicle

*Main Street Haunted Hotel

*Disney on Parade

*High School Musical: LIVE!

*Muppet Mobile Lab

*Glow in the Park Halloween Parade

Adventureland

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*Raft to the Tarzan's Treehouse

* on Tarzan Island

*Festival of the Lion King

*Liki Tikis

*Demon Jungle

*Adventureland Haunted Trail

Fantasyland

*Mickey's PhilharMagic

*Cinderella Carousel

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*Fantasyland Train Station

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*Sleeping Beauty Castle

*Sword in the Stone

*The Golden Mickeys

*Snow White Grotto

*"it's a small world"

Tomorrowland

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*Orbitron

*Autopia

*Stitch Encounter

*UFO Zone

Characters

Main Street, U.S.A.

*Mickey Mouse

*Minnie Mouse

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*Chip and Dale

Adventureland

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*

*

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Fantasyland

*Mickey and Minnie

*Winnie The Pooh

*Alice

*Snow White

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*Cinderella

*Prince Charming

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*Mulan

*Mushu

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*Clarabelle Cow

Tomorrowland

*Buzz Lightyear

Entertainment and celebrations

The park features both a daytime parade "Disney on Parade" and "Disney in the Stars", a fireworks show, in the evening. Seasonal entertainment, such as Disney's Haunted Halloween, A Sparkling Christmas and Disney's Chinese New Year, are held in the park to celebrate main festivals.

Entertainment

;Disney on Parade

: A day-time parade which features 9 floats with famous Disney characters including Mickey and Friends, Chip 'n' Dale, Disney Princesses, Alice, Buzz Lightyear, Woody and Jessie.

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: A parade shown on rainy days that consists of a specially design train with characters wearing brightly colored raincoats.

; High School Musical: LIVE!

: A uniquely created mobile stage-show inspired by the movie ''High School Musical'' and its sequel ''High School Musical 2''. It will feature a troop of singers and dancers mostly from the Philippines and Hong Kong which will travel along the Main Street and sing hit songs from the movie, including "What Time Is It?" and "Get'cha Head in the Game". This is a new attraction launched on March 7, 2008 apart from the announced It's a Small World.

; Disney in the Stars

: Nightly fireworks based on a similar format used in the Fantasy in the Sky fireworks at other Disney theme parks, fireworks and pyrotechnics are co-ordinated to orchestrated classic Disney music such as "A Whole New World".

; Muppet Mobile Lab

: a free-roving, audio-animatronic entertainment implemented on a Segway platform, an interactive comedy show performed by two Muppet characters, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant, Beaker. The characters ride their two-wheeled rocket-ship/laboratory vehicle.

Seasonal entertainment

; Mickey's WaterWorks: A summer, water-themed parade that consists of seven new floats, 100 performers and 30 Disney characters. This parade was originally created for Mickey's Summer Blast celebration, Mickey's WaterWorks made its debut on July 7, 2007, and now runs annually in the summer months.

; Glow in the Park Halloween Parade: This parade, designed for the Haunted Halloween event, featured seven floats. This parade will be shown again during the Disney's Haunted Halloween event with a newly-added Ghostly Parade Ship.

; 'Let it Snow' Christmas Parade: A brand-new Christmas parade that will feature floats with Christmas decorations from ''Disney on Parade'' during the A Sparkling Christmas event from 23 November 2007 until 2 January 2008.

Park celebrations

''Note*'': Festive entertainment is shown in ''italic''

Future construction

Finished construction

The Phase 1 Extension began with three new attractions for Tomorrowland that opened in the summer of 2006. In 2007, Animation Academy and Mickey's Waterworks Parade are added. In 2008, High School Musical: LIVE!, Muppet Mobile Lab, Turtle Talk with Crush and the classical attraction were added.

One of the announced attractions, The Art of Animation, officially opened to guests in August of 2008. This latest attraction is located in the Opera House, which is next to the Animation Academy and was originally occupied by the Disneyland Story.

Recent construction

The outer edge of Adventureland has been under construction since early May 2008, next to Festival of The Lion King and Rafts to Tarzan's Treehouse. Digging is under way beneath the berm, to permit expansion beyond the railroad track perimeter. A temporary structure for Demon Jungle, an exclusive attraction for the coming 2008 Halloween season, is confirmed to be built in the area beyond the railroad. Also, the walkway will most likely link to new themed lands in the future if funding is secured to start Hong Kong Disneyland's 5-year expansion plan .

Planned construction

The park is planning to introduce a 5-year expansion plan in the near future. This will include construction of new themed lands in the area beyond the current railroad track in Adventureland and Fantasyland, which the total land area is about 5 hectares.

For long-term construction, with the reclaimed land reserved for the Phase 2 Extension and the Disneyland park being blocked by the Park Promenade , it is expected that the resort's second Disney theme park will be built on that site.

A Phase 3 Extension is also being considered by the Walt Disney Company and the Hong Kong government.

Criticisms

Overcrowding problems

Just before the grand opening, the park was criticized for underestimating the daily capacity limit. The problem became apparent on the charity preview day on 4 September 2005, when 30,000 locals visited the park. The reported queue time for fast food stands exceeded 45 minutes and over 2 hours for rides. Before the park opened, some within the Disney Company were concerned that the park would not offer enough because of the small number of attractions present.

Although the community, and the park's biggest shareholder, the Hong Kong Government, put pressure on the park to lower the capacity, the park insisted on keeping the limit and only agreed to relieve the capacity problem by extending opening time by one hour or introducing more discounts during weekdays. However, the park said local visitors tend to stay in the park for about nine hours per visit, implying that the mentioned practices would do little to solve the problem.

During Chinese New Year 2006, many visitors arrived at the park in the morning bearing valid tickets, but were refused entry, because the park was already at capacity. Disgruntled visitors attempted to force their way into the park or gain access by climbing over the barrier gates. Disneyland management was forced to revise their ticketing policy and designated future periods close to Chinese public holidays as 'special days' during which admission would only be allowed through a date-specific ticket.

Food safety panel

Officers from the Food and Environmental Hygiene department, who were asked by Disney staff to take off their badges and caps in order to enter the park, left park visitors feeling very uneasy. The officers investigated a food-poisoning case in the park's restaurants. The chairman of 's food Safety panel, Fred Li, described the incident as shocking, and called on the director of the department to take follow-up action against Disney. Hong Kong Disneyland says what happened was inappropriate and has apologized for the incident. Secretary for Justice said that the government did not have enough evidence to make a prosecution, thus dropping the case.

Public relations

Disney initially refused to release the attendance figures after media reports surfaced saying the park's attendance numbers might be lower than expected. Disney finally relented, and declared on November 24, 2005, that Disney had officially welcomed over 1 million guests during its first two months of operation.

In response to negative publicity locally and to boost visitor numbers, Hong Kong Disneyland offered $50 discounts for admission to the park to holders of Hong Kong I.D. cards in the period before Christmas in 2005. In the period from March to June 2006, the park offered holders of Hong Kong I.D. cards the opportunity to buy a two-day admission for the price of a single day.

Official websites

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Fan websites

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Glow in the Park Halloween Parade

2008-09-29T08:36:00.007-07:00

Glow in the Park Halloween Parade was a parade held during the Disney's Haunted Halloween event in Hong Kong Disneyland. It featured seven brand-new floats and over 100 cast members and eight never-before-seen characters, including Jack Skellington from ''The Nightmare Before Christmas''. Some of the Disney Villains who appeared in the parade were the Wicked Witch, Maleficent and Jafar. The parade is an exclusive entertainment shown every evening during the Haunted Halloween event.

The parade made its debut on 24 September 2007. It returns on 25 September 2008 as part of the Disney's Haunted Halloween event with a brand-new finale of the ghost parade ship float.

Festival of the Lion King

2008-09-29T08:36:00.005-07:00

Festival of the Lion King, an original interpretation of the classic tale ''The Lion King'', is a ''Broadway-caliber short-form'' stage musical performance in a live theatrical show, applied the concept of the tribal celebration in combination with the idea from Disney's Electrical Parade, which is performed in Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World, Florida and in Adventureland at Hong Kong Disneyland.

All About the Details

The show uses songs, dances, puppetries and visual effects to create an African savanna setting filled with lions, elephants, giraffes, birds, zebras and gazelles. In this theater environment, ''Festival of the Lion King'' retells the story of the lion king Simba, from the Disney animated feature film ''The Lion King'', and his struggle against to regain , his kingdom. The show features the from the movie, written by Elton John and Tim Rice.

*In Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World

The show is presented inside an enclosed theater in . Guests sit in four sections, each designated with an animal name: Warthog, Elephant, Giraffe and Lion. Guests are asked to make a noise corresponding to their animal at certain times during the show, and children are sometimes pulled out of the audience to dance.

The show is hosted by four performers dressed in costumes inspired by traditional African dress. Each has a Swahili name: Kiume, Nakawa, Kibibi and Zawadi.

The story of the movie is not followed, being replaced with a show of songs from the movie and other sources. This is combined with aerobatics performed by the Tumble Monkeys, a group of performers dressed in orange monkey costumes, a Samoan fireknife performance, and a ballet and aerial segment with performers dressed as colorful birds.

The Cast also performs annually for the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade, which is filmed at the Magic Kingdom and is broadcast on Christmas Day on .

*In Adventureland, Hong Kong Disneyland

''Festival of the Lion King'' is featured in the 2,200-seat "Theater in the Wild" in Adventureland. Similar to the theater setting in Disney's Animal Kingdom, guests sit in four different sections, each with an animal name: Warthog, Elephant, Giraffe and Lion.

The show in Hong Kong has been arranged to tell a simplified version of the story of ''The Lion King'' along with the songs in the movie. The performance is mainly in English, but two actors dressed as monkeys summarize and translate the storyteller's lines into Cantonese in order to accommodate guests who do not speak English. subtitles, for Mainland Chinese visitors, are also projected to the screens above each seating section.

The show is presented to Simba by Rafiki as a re-telling of Simba's life. Simba is represented by a large, elaborate puppet on a parade-style float decorated as a tribal-styled Pride Rock. In contrast to the Simba of the Animal Kingdom production, he wears red and black tribal bracelets and has braids in his mane.

Fantasyland

2008-09-29T08:36:00.003-07:00

Fantasyland is one of the "themed lands" at the many Magic Kingdom-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the world. Each Fantasyland has a castle as well as several gentle rides themed after Disney movies. In the words of Walt Disney: "Fantasyland is dedicated to the young at heart and to those who believe that when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true."

Disneyland

Fantasyland is one of the themed lands at Disneyland park. Fantasyland at the original Disneyland features a central courtyard dominated by King Arthur's Carrousel, in front of which sits a sword in an anvil; several times each day a costumed Merlin helps a child pull the sword from it. Walt Disney said, "What youngster has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London, or tumbling into Alice's nonsensical ? In Fantasyland, these classic stories of everyone's youth have become realities for youngsters - of all ages - to participate in."

In 1983, Fantasyland received a major facelift and the attraction facades changed from medieval tents to unique buildings themed to the movies upon which the dark rides were based.

Fantasyland's main entrance is through Sleeping Beauty Castle. The entrance also contains a separate walk through attraction that opened in 1957 but closed in 2001 after the September 11 terrorist attacks for security concerns, but will reopen in December 2008 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the film that it's based on.

Dedication

''"Fantasyland is dedicated to the young at heart and to those who believe that when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true."''- Walt Disney

Attractions

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*Casey Jr. Circus Train

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*It's a Small World

*King Arthur Carrousel

*Mad Tea Party

*Matterhorn Bobsleds

*Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

*Pinocchio's Daring Journey

*Peter Pan's Flight

*Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk Thru

*Snow White's Scary Adventures

*Storybook Land Canal Boats

*TinkerBell "Meet & Greet", opening 2008.

Restaurants

*Village Haus Restaurant

*Enchanted Cottage, Sweets and Treats

Shopping

*The Mad Hatter

*Once Upon a Time...The Disney Princess Shoppe

*Le Petit Chalet

*Fantasy Faire Gifts

*Castle Heraldry

The Magic Kingdom

''See also: ''

Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort has ten main attractions. There are also two character greeting areas; Ariel's Grotto, which features , and the Fairytale Garden, in which Belle from '''' reads a classic Disney story. Cinderella Castle contains a mosaic depicting the story of Cinderella, and features Cinderella's Royal Table restaurant.

Attractions

*Ariel's Grotto

*Cinderella Castle

*Cinderella's Golden Carrousel

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*It's a Small World

*Mad Tea Party

*Mickey's PhilharMagic

*Peter Pan's Flight

*Snow White's Scary Adventures

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*Pooh's Playful Spot

*Fairytale Garden

*Castle Forecourt Stage

Restaurants

* Cinderella's Royal Table is a special and "dining experience" located in the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, United States. It is the only restaurant in Cinderella Castle and it features the "Once Upon a Time Character Breakfast", with Cinderella and several other Disney Leading Lady characters. This location is so popular that it is one of the only restaurants at Disney World to book up 180 days in advance each and every day. . Prospective diners must call 180 days in advance to compete during a 20 minute window at 7:00 am before the restaurant gets booked for that day. It is one of only two Princess character dining opportunities Disney offers, and the only breakfast with Cinderella; the other is the Princess Storybook Breakfast located at the restaurant in the Norway pavilion at EPCOT. Cinderella's Royal Table also offers a character lunch at the present time and a themed dinner featuring the Fairy Godmother to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries. Also at this time proposal packages are available upon request.

* Pinocchio Village Haus - Counter Service

* Mrs. Potts Cupboard - Snacks

* Enchanted Groves - Lemonade slushes and juices.

* The Village Fry Shoppe - Hot dog and McDonald fries.

Former Attractions

*Mr. Toad's Wild Ride -

*20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage -

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* Mickey Mouse Revue , Magic Journeys , Legend of the Lion King

Tokyo Disneyland

Tokyo Disneyland has three original attractions among the usual dark rides: the Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour, which features Disney villains including the Horned King from ; The Mickey Mouse Revue, originally from the Magic Kingdom but moved to Tokyo Disneyland for its opening; and Pooh's Hunny Hunt, which uses a trackless ride system.

Attractions

*Alice's Tea Party

*Castle Carrousel

*Cinderella Castle

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*"it's a small world"

*Mickey Mouse Revue

*Peter Pan's Flight

*Pinocchio's Daring Journey

*Pooh's Hunny Hunt

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*Haunted Mansion

Restaurants

*Troubadour Tavern

*Captain Hook's Galley

*Queen of Hearts Banquet hall

*Cleo's

*Village Pastry

Shopping

*Fantasy Gifts

*The AristoCats

*The Glass Slipper

*Baby Mine

*Fantasyland Camera Shop

*The Mad Hatter

*Pleasure Island Candies

*Stromboli's Wagon

*Pooh Corner

Disneyland Park

The fourth Fantasyland to open was in France at the Disneyland Park theme park. Themed around a fairy tale village, this specifically notes the European origin of many classic Disney film's source material. A unique attraction for the park was 'Les Pirouettes du Vieux Moulin'. It is a ferris wheel based on Walt Disney's original animated film, The Old Mill. The concept was originally projected for Disneyland in 1954, but was discarded then, only to be reconsidered and built at Disneyland Paris more than 35 years later. The ride is now retired, but still standing.

Attractions

*Disneyland Railroad Fantasyland Station

*Alice's Curious Labyrinth

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*

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*"it's a small world"

* Sleeping Beauty's Gallery

* Dragon's Lair

* Lancelot's Carousel

*Le Ch?teau de la Belle au Bois Dormant

*Le Thé?tre du Chateau

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*Peter Pan's Flight

*Fantasy Festival Stage

Restaurants

* The Old Mill

* Auberge de Cendrillon

* Au Chalet de la Marionnette

* Pizzeria Bella Notte

* Toad hall Restaurant

* Fantasia Gelati

* March Hare Refreshments

Shopping

* Castle Boutique

* Merlin l'Enchanteur

* La Chaumière des Sept Nains

* La Confiserie des Trois Fées

* La Ménagerie de Royaume

* La Bottega di Geppetto

* Le Brave Petit Tailleur

Former Attractions

* The Old Mill - Closed due to low capacity and loading. Now a snack kiosk.

Hong Kong Disneyland

Hong Kong Disneyland features Sleeping Beauty Castle, as well as the Fantasy Gardens where costumed Disney characters can be met.

Attractions

*Cinderella Carousel

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*Fantasy Gardens

*Fantasyland Train Station

*"it's a small world"

*Mad Hatter Tea Cups

*Mickey's PhilharMagic

*Sleeping Beauty Castle

*Snow White Grotto

*Sword in the Stone

*The Golden Mickeys at Disney's Storybook Theater

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Restaurants

*Royal Banquet Hall

*Clopin's Festival of Foods

*small world ice-cream

Shopping

*Storybook Shoppe

*Pooh's Corner

*Merlin's Treasures

Fantasy Gardens (Disney attraction)

2008-09-29T08:36:00.001-07:00

Fantasy Gardens is an attraction located at Fantasyland in Hong Kong Disneyland, Lantau Island, Hong Kong, which is presented by Kodak. Visitors can encounter and take photos with most Disney characters, such as Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Chip 'n' Dale, Winnie the Pooh and Mulan, in these lush gardens.

Dumbo the Flying Elephant (ride)

2008-09-29T08:35:00.008-07:00

Dumbo Flying Elephants is an original 1955 Fantasyland attraction at Disneyland. A second version may be found at Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland. The Disneyland attraction is located just north of King Arthur Carrousel while the Magic Kingdom attraction may be found across from Cinderella's Golden Carrousel.

Built in August 1955, one month after the park's opening and based on the character from the , the sixteen ride vehicles are each shaped like Dumbo and are mounted on articulated armatures connected to a rotating hub. The passengers ride in the "Dumbos" and can maneuver them up and down with a joystick which operates a hydraulic ram. The ride itself rotates counterclockwise at a constant rate.

The attraction was originally built with ten ride vehicles which were intended to represent not the "one and only" Dumbo but the alcohol-induced "pink elephants" scene from the film. In fact, the working title of the attraction was and the elephants were actually painted pink on installation. Walt Disney objected, not wishing Disneyland's patrons to ride vehicles themed to a hallucination and thereby ordered them painted gray. When Disneyland's Fantasyland was remodeled in 1983, the attraction was expanded to its present-day sixteen vehicles. Like other remaining 1955 attractions, one of Disneyland's Dumbos was painted gold in honor of that park's in 2005.

A circa 1915 band organ occasionally provides background music. This powerful instrument is capable of being heard more than a mile away; it is quite naturally operated at only a fraction of its potential.

Trivia

* A figure of Timothy Mouse rides atop the central hub. The figure originally held a training whip, later replaced with the "magic feather." It has since been changed back to the whip.

* During his 1957 visit, Former US President Harry S Truman politely declined a ride on Dumbo Flying Elephants. Elephants are the symbol of America's ; Truman was a .

* During the 1992 Disneyana convention, one of the original ride vehicles sold for US$16,000.

Disney on Parade

2008-09-29T08:35:00.007-07:00

Disney on Parade is a daytime parade of the Hong Kong Disneyland theme park in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It was debuted on rehearsal days throughout June, 2005, before the grand opening of Hong Kong Disneyland on September 12, 2005. The parade takes many of the floats and themes from Tokyo Disneyland's former daytime parade named ''Disney on Parade: 100 Years of Magic''. It ran until early 2003, when it was replaced by ''Disney's Dreams on Parade''.

The park was originally scheduled to receive Disneyland's long-running ''Parade of the Stars'', which was debuted for its 45th anniversary celebration in 2000 and was replaced with a new 50th anniversary parade in 2005. However, officials decided on a different parade for the new park at last.

The parade begins in Fantasyland, near the entrance of Storybook Theatre, and ends on Main Street, U.S.A., near the Disneyland City Hall. Floats in Disney on Parade feature Chip 'n' Dale, a studio-like float, the Disney princesses and friends, Alice in Wonderland and friends, Ariel the Little Mermaid, Buzz Lightyear and Woody from Toy Story, and Mickey Mouse and friends in a finale float which looks like the Sleeping Beauty Castle. The parade features almost 100 performers and assisting cast members.

From November 23, 2007 through January 2, 2008, the parade was replaced with the 'Let it Snow' Christmas Parade.

Disney in the Stars

2008-09-29T08:35:00.005-07:00

Disney in the Stars is the nightly fireworks performance at the Hong Kong Disneyland theme park in Lantau, Hong Kong.

Based on a similar format used in the ''Fantasy in the Sky'' fireworks at other Disney theme parks, fireworks and pyrotechnics are co-ordinated to orchestrated classic Disney music such as "A Whole New World". The show opened on September 12, 2005, debuting at the park's nighttime inaugural ceremonies.

Demon Jungle

2008-09-29T08:35:00.003-07:00

Demon Jungle is an exclusive attraction at Hong Kong Disneyland in Hong Kong for the Disney's Haunted Halloween event, which is loacted in Adventureland. It is a haunted walk-through attraction which features living haunts and specters appearing at every corner.

Demon Jungle is the latest addition of the haunted experience for the 2008 Halloween season. It opens on 26 September 2008 as part of the Haunted Halloween event.

Buzz Lightyear (attractions)

2008-09-29T08:35:00.001-07:00

The Buzz Lightyear attractions are a series of attractions based on the /Pixar film ''Toy Story 2'' at Walt Disney Parks around the world. Although each ride may have a different name , all share the same plot and major characters. As each form of the attraction appeared, new technology has allowed the guest to better interact with the ride and even connect with personal computer users.

The attractions use a third-generation Omnimover system, and are combination of a shooting gallery and a dark ride. The first ride featured laser guns that were not movable, but later versions featured the guns that are held in a holster and movable with the exception of a cord to keep them in the vehicle after the ride has ended. In 2005, the Walt Disney Company premiered a home version of the ride in the form of an internet video game that allows users to connect with guests at the parks. The scores of each guest from the dark ride are tallied with the internet gamer and increase the points won. There is also an attraction at Walt Disney World Resort's DisneyQuest with the name "Buzz Lightyear's Astroblasters", where players ride and control cars while shooting balls at each other.

Plot

The back story of the ride revolves around the attempts of Evil Emperor Zurg to steal the "crystallic fusion cells" used to power the space vehicles of the Participants are "Star Command" raw recruits sent to defeat Zurg. The queue area is awash in the chartreuse, white, and bright blue hues of Buzz Lightyear himself . Since Buzz Lightyear is a toy, the attraction is cleverly scaled to give the illusion that one has just been reduced to the size of an action figure, featuring such detail as giant, exposed Philips screw heads and an explanation of the interactive phase of the ride that resembles a toy's instruction sheet, only on a gigantic scale. An Audio-Animatronic Buzz Lightyear figure and giant Etch-a-Sketch and/or Viewmaster provide explanation of the "mission." The Buzz Lightyear figure utilizes both the latest Audio-Animatronic technology combined with an innovative video rear projection system for Buzz's face, resulting in one of the most lifelike Audio-Animatronic figures in Disney theme park history.

Technical aspects

"Astro Blasters" and "Space Ranger Spin" are equal parts shooting gallery and dark ride. Visitors board an Omnimover space vehicle featuring two laser pistols and a joystick. The pistols are used to shoot laser beams at targets of varying point values. Targets that are hit while lit up will produce much higher scores. A digital readout on the dashboard shows the player's score. The joystick allows full 360-degree rotation of the vehicle to assist in aiming. During the ride, if the ride slows down or completely stops during the ride, this allows for "bonus points" as the pistols and targets do not turn off. There are 4 different shaped targets. Round, square, triangle, and diamond shaped. The triangle and diamond shaped targets are worth the most points. At one point in the attraction, each visitor is photographed during game play and, at "Astro Blasters", has the option of sending an electronic postcard via e-mail at the exit queue. "Astro Blaster's" photos include the player's score. If the score is in the top 100 highest of the day, the player's ranking is also included in the photo. The Top 10 players' scores are shown on the scoreboard at the exit queue, along with 3 letters that the person chooses to identify themselves. The top person gets their face posted on the screen. The new Disneyland attraction features at-home play tied directly to the attraction itself via the Internet. The home game enables players to help Disneyland visitors by lighting up special targets that allow both sides to win more points.

Gallery

Autopia

2008-09-29T08:32:00.003-07:00

Autopia is a Disneyland attraction, in which patrons steer specially designed cars through an enclosed track. Versions of Autopia exist at Anaheim, California, Disneyland Paris in , and at Hong Kong Disneyland on Lantau Island, Hong Kong. Other versions of the attraction can be found at the Magic Kingdom as the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway and at Tokyo Disneyland as the Grand Circuit Raceway.

The name Autopia is a portmanteau of the words "automobile utopia," which was popularized in academic circles by British architecture critic Reyner Banham to describe Los Angeles in his 1971 book "Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies."

Disneyland Autopia History

The Disneyland Autopia, in one form or another, is one of the few current attractions that opened with the park on July 17, 1955. When it opened, it represented the future of what would become America's multilane limited-access highways, which were still being developed. President had yet to sign the Interstate Highway legislation at the time Disneyland opened.

Before the park opened, the cars were tested without the bumpers, and were almost completely destroyed by the test drivers. Bumpers were fitted around the vehicle, but there were still problems with collisions, as a guide rail had yet to be implemented on the ride. Eventually the vehicles were fitted with spring-loaded bumpers to discourage collisions. The Tomorrowland version received makeovers in 1967 and 1999.

The Tomorrowland version was not the only form of Autopia to exist at Disneyland. Other versions, separate from the Tomorrowland version, included the Midget Autopia, Fantasyland Autopia , and Junior Autopia. Of these, the Tomorrowland Autopia existed the longest.

The Midget Autopia opened in 1957. It was the smallest and was the third Autopia track, after the Tomorrowland Autopia and the Junior Autopia in Fantasyland . It was located next to the Storybook Land Canal Boats and the Motor Boat Cruise at the very edge of Fantasyland. It was closed in 1966 and dismantled to make way for 'it's a small world'. The ride was donated to the city of Marceline, Missouri, where it operated for a few years.

The Fantasyland Autopia began originally as the Junior Autopia in 1956. It closed in 1958, and reopened in 1959 as the expanded Fantasyland Autopia. It was a duplicate version of the Tomorrowland Autopia and featured the same theme of the original until 1991, when part of the Disney's Afternoon Avenue makeover of Fantasyland, the ride was transformed into the Rescue Rangers Raceway. The theming was kept until 1992, when the promotion ended. The ride remained open on an interim basis until 1999, when both the Tomorrowland and Fantasyland Autopias were closed.

In 2000, Disneyland replaced both existing Autopia tracks with a new, much larger Autopia sponsored by . The colorful -style cars were replaced by three different kinds of cars: Dusty, an off-road style car; Sparky, a sports car; and Suzy, a Volkswagen Beetle-style car. Each was designed to be tied into the Chevron line of animated 'Chevron Cars', and 4 versions of the Autopia cars were sold as toys during the 2000 summer season at Chevron stations nationwide. The voice of Dusty the Autopia car is voiced by Matthew Howard. He is said to be the youngest Disney ride announcer as of 2004. The ride safety speil was rerecorded in 2004 to remind parents to watch their children due to several minor incidents.

In 2005, rumors circulated that Disney was planning on developing an overlay that would tie in with the Pixar film, , which would have required the ride going down sometime in 2006. However, this did not happen. Also a Cars attraction based on Epcot's Test Track attraction is being planned for Disney's California Adventure Park. It had also been rumored that in 2006 the Autopia cars will be replaced with ones powered by fuel cells. However, this replacement did not happen. Now the future prospect for the current Autopia cars is to be eventually replaced with electric cars if that system is able to prove itself in the Hong Kong version of the attraction. The agreement with Chevron ends in 2010, currently the Hong Kong attraction is sponsored by Honda and is likely to replace Chevron should Disneyland go with the electric cars.

Other Versions

Walt Disney World

The second Disney theme park to open was the Magic Kingdom. An opening day attraction, the Grand Prix Raceway was based on an international car race rather than the futuristic roadways of Autopia. The original sponsor was , as it supplied all of the tires on the Mark VII vehicles.

The ride was expanded in 1973 and remained unchanged until the 1994 remodel of Tomorrowland. Part of the track was also shortened to make room for Mickey's Toontown Fair. The Grand Prix theme and name was dropped in favor of 'Tomorrowland Speedway', but the track and vehicles remained the same, as new theming to coincide with the "New Tomorrowland" overlay was installed.

On December 20, 1999, Walt Disney Company and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway partnered to change the theme of the track. The ride was changed to add items from the famous Speedway, such as the famous ''Yard of Bricks,'' the Scoring Pylon, and the wheel and wing logo. The loading area features panels with the three Indy events: the Indianapolis 500, the and the United States Grand Prix.

Tokyo Disneyland

At Tokyo Disneyland, the ride exists as Grand Circuit Raceway. This version of the ride has remained open since the park's opening in 1983 and has remained largely unchanged. The ride is sponsored by Bridgestone and features a grandstand for visitors to watch the "races" between drivers. The track is described as a "figure eight" shape, but is actually quite longer. A new ride, Aquatopia, opened at neighboring park Tokyo DisneySea in 2001, but other than the name similarity to the Disneyland car ride Aquatopia is closer to Disneyland's former Motor Boat Cruise.

Disneyland Paris

The Disneyland Paris version, which opened with the park on April 12, 1992, uses the original Disneyland name of Autopia, but it has a unique sense of style and theming. The cars are more rounded and feature a toy-like quality to go with a 1950s retro theme, which differs from the Discoveryland theme.

Hong Kong Disneyland

Hong Kong Disneyland is the first Disneyland-type park to not open with a form of the Autopia. Opened in Summer 2006 as part of its Phase I Expansion, the Hong Kong version is different from all the other versions, as it features electric cars, with lighting effects on the cars, and a unique on-board audio-system. Theming includes a lush jungle and alien landscape. Honda Motors is the sponsor of the attraction.

Attraction facts

Disneyland

* Grand opening: July 17, 1955

** Re-dedicated: June 29, 2000

* Designer: WED Enterprises

* Sponsor: Chevron

** Past sponsor:

* Vehicles: 96

** Current model: Mark IX

** Vehicle theme: Chevron Cars

* Top speed: 6.5mph

* Track length: 2,568'

* Boarding requirements:

** Passenger: 1 Year of Age

** Driver: 1 Years of Age/52"

* Trip length: 4:32

* Required ticket: "C"

* Ride system: Miniature vehicles along a guided track

Magic Kingdom

* Grand opening: October 1, 1971

** Expanded: 1973

** Opening name: Grand Prix Raceway

** Original sponsor: Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company

* Designer: WED Enterprises

* Vehicles: 146

** Vehicle theme: Race Car

** Current model: Mark VII

* Top speed: 7.5 mph

* Track length: 4/10 Mile

* Boarding requirements:

** Passenger: 1 Year of Age

** Driver: 7 Years of Age/52"

* Trip length: 5:00

* Required ticket: "C"

* Ride system: Miniature vehicles along a guided track

Tokyo Disneyland

* Grand opening: April 15, 1983

* Designer: WED Enterprises

* Sponsor: Bridgestone

* Vehicles:

** Current model - Mark VII

* Top speed: 7mph

* Boarding requirements:

** Passenger: 132 cm

* Trip length: 5:00

* Required ticket: "C"

* Ride system: Miniature vehicles along a guided track

Disneyland Paris

* Grand opening: April 12, 1992

* Designer: Walt Disney Imagineering

* Sponsor: Ford

** Previous sponsor: Mattel , Esso

* Vehicles:

** Current model: Mark VIII

* Trip length: 5:00

* Boarding requirements:

** Passenger - 132 cm

* Ride system: Miniature vehicles along a guided track

Hong Kong Disneyland

* Grand opening: July 13, 2006

* Designer: Walt Disney Imagineering

* Sponsor: Honda

* Track: 3

** A: Longest track featuring an overpass across the UFO Zone area

** B: Shortest track

** C: More "difficult" to drive

* Vehicles: Total 61 cars Max 54 in operation

** Current model: Mark X

** Motor Type: Electric

* Boarding requirements:

** Driver - 137 cm

** Passenger - 81 cm

* Ride system: Miniature vehicles along a guided track

In popular culture

*In the sing along songs video , during "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", Autopia was the ride tame enough for Roger Rabbit.

*A deleted scene from The Simpsons Movie reveals that while trapped inside the dome Springfield became, among other things, an Autopia.

Astro Orbitor

2008-09-29T08:32:00.001-07:00

Astro Orbitor is a rocket-spinner attraction featured at all five Magic Kingdom-style parks at Walt Disney Resorts around the world. Although each ride may have a different name, all share the same premise of rockets spinning around a central monument, commonly a large rocket. As each form of the attraction appeared, new designs and locations have been implemented to fit with changing schemes of several Tomorrowlands.

History

Disneyland

In 1956, the first rocket-spinner attraction opened at Disneyland and was known as the Astro Jets. The attraction was made by Klaus Company Bavaria and similar to several versions found in traveling carnivals. The "jets" made a 50-foot circle around a large red-checkered rocket and guests were able climb upwards of 36 feet in their ride vehicles from the ground level they were boarded at. The attraction stood between the Submarine Voyage and Flight to the Moon.

The name Astro Jets was changed in 1964 when United Airlines, a new sponsor for the park , disputed the name was free advertising for American Airlines' coast-to-coast jet-airline service. After this dispute the name was changed to Tomorrowland Jets. The name lasted until September of 1966, when the attraction was closed to make room for the new renovated Tomorrowland.

The attraction returned in August 1967 as the Rocket Jets. This version was located on top of the new PeopleMover platform, and was accessible from ground level via an elevator. The focal point of this version was its replica Saturn V/NASA-themed rocket in the center. This version remained open until 1997, when it closed for renovations with the rest of Tomorrowland. The new form of the attraction opened one year later as Astro Orbitor. The new version is a replica of the ''Orbitron, Machines Volantes'' at Disneyland Paris.

The Astro Orbitor was planned to be placed where the Rocket Jets were, but weighed too much for the current building. Instead, it was relocated to the entrance of Tomorrowland, and placed on ground level, thus making the ride the new focal point as guests step from the main plaza of Disneyland into Tomorrowland. One concept drawing had guests boarding the attraction underground and others had the center of the attraction featuring a water moat . Both ideas were never carried out.

The mechanism for Rocket Jets on top of the PeopleMover was dismantled and a kinetic satellite-themed sculpture known as Observatron was built out of the ride's skeletal structure. The Observatron was originally planned to come to life every fifteen minutes and appear to summon signs from the skies, while a selected soundtrack would play over Tomorrowland. However, the mechanism has been prone to failure and occasionally will be inactive for periods of months or only play sporadically on certain days.

Disney has not made any official statements regarding the future of the Astro Orbitor, though a number of fans in the online Disney communities have expressed hope that the attraction will be relocated to its original platform, perhaps with a reopened PeopleMover as well. Common complaints include the way the Astro Orbitor obstructs the view of Tomorrowland's main thoroughfare and the amount of space it takes up in the entrance to the land, potentially causing congestion in the walkways.

Magic Kingdom

No form of the attraction existed in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World until 1974, three years after the park's opening, when Tomorrowland underwent a massive expansion including the creation of the first Space Mountain, a new location for the Disneyland-attraction the Carousel of Progress, a new WEDWay Peoplemover, and of course the Star Jets also opened.

This version of the attraction was based on the Disneyland version, in both location and in style . However the attraction vehicles were different than any other previous form as they were much larger and featured a flatter back-end and larger tail fins. This form of the attraction lasted until the 1994 rehab.

In 1994, the Astro Orbiter opened when "The New Tomorrowland" premiered. The land was now a haven for retro-futurism with a 1920's view of the future. The attraction featured a highly stylized iron-work tower in lieu of the center rocket along with various planets on the outside of the attraction as to appear as if the rockets were weaving between the planets and guests feel as if they are going much faster than they actually are. The ride at the Magic Kingdom does 11 rotations per minute and averages 1.2 million miles a year.

Animation Academy

2008-09-29T08:31:00.007-07:00

Animation Academy is an attraction at the Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disney's California Adventure, Walt Disney Studios Park and DisneyQuest. And is also one of the latest attractions of Hong Kong Disneyland.

The attraction was opened with DisneyQuest on its opening in 1998. It was also recently added to the Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's California Adventure. It can be found within Art of Disney Animation at Walt Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Resort Paris. The attraction opened in Hong Kong Disneyland on 14 July 2007. It is located next to the Opera House in Main Street, USA.

The attraction itself is a drawing session with a Disney animator who teaches guests to draw Disney character, such as Mickey Mouse,Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, etc. Guests may take their own artwork home after the drawing session.

Adventureland

2008-09-29T08:31:00.005-07:00

Adventureland is one of the "themed lands" at the many Magic Kingdom-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the world. It is themed to resemble the remote jungles in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, desert islands, South America, and the South Pacific. "To create a land that would make this dream reality", said Walt Disney, "we pictured ourselves far from civilization, in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa."

Adventureland provides a 1950s view of exotic adventure, capitalizing on the post-war Tiki craze. Lush vegetation resembles jungles while elements of the “other” surround the visitor. Tribal performance masks, congo drums, non-American totem poles, exotic animal statues, and architecture of Pacific influence make for a confined area wherein industry and technology take a back seat to uncharted nature. Noted art historian David T. Doris explains Adventureland as, “a pastiche of imaginary colonial spaces, conflated within the green and foliate milieu of ‘the Jungle.’”

Disneyland

Disneyland's Adventureland was originally envisioned as True-Life Adventureland, and was to be based on Walt's famous award winning nature documentaries on Africa and Asia. The land was originally supposed to have real animals from Africa to inhabit a jungle river, but after zoologists told Walt the real animals would lay around or hide, the imagineers built mechanical animals instead. Adventureland opened with the Jungle Cruise as its star attraction, until the Swiss Family Treehouse was added years later. With the groundbreaking technology of audio animatronics Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room was added nearby the land's entry bridge. Many years later Indiana Jones Adventure was added with the expansion of Adventureland and gave the entire land a 1930's theme. The Swiss Family Treehouse was redone and made Tarzan's Treehouse and Adventureland has remained the same since, until 2008 with the new summer event, Indiana Jones and the Summer of Hidden Mysteries. This event will feature a new archaeologist site where kids can uncover artifacts and treasure, new lines for the Jungle Cruise about Indy wandering through the jungle with several evident facts of his adventure shown throughout, new things added to the Indiana Jones Adventure queue , a street show where Indiana Jones meets up with an enemy who holds a map to the Temple of the Forbidden Eye that the other one wants which results in a special effect and stunt orientated show through Adventureland resulting with things like fire, chasing, pushing through crowds, falling off balconies and roofs, climbing up buildings and trees, a gun fight, and many other stunts, and finally guests will be given maps of Adventureland giving clues and hints to hidden secrets of the jungle.

Attractions

* Jungle Cruise

*

* Tarzan's Treehouse

* Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room

* Indiana Jones Summer of Hidden Mysteries

Restaurants

* Bengal Barbecue

* Tiki Juice Bar

Shopping

*Adventureland Bazaar

*South Seas Traders

*Indiana Jones Adventure Outpost

*Tropical Imports

The Magic Kingdom

''See also: ''

The Adventureland here is divided into two main sub-areas, one being the Arabian Village and the other one being Caribbean Plaza, which is home to Pirates of the Caribbean. Other attractions that distinguish it from the others are the Magic Carpets of Aladdin spinner ride and the , which now features and Zazu as additional hosts. The transition between the cartoon-Arabia and Caribbean occurs seamlessly. A thrill ride called Fire Mountain was envisioned for the land a while back but due to lack of space it was never built.

Attractions

* Jungle Cruise

* The Enchanted Tiki Room

* Magic Carpets of Aladdin

*

* Swiss Family Treehouse

* Shrunken Ned's Junior Jungle Boats

Shows & Special Events

* Captain Jack Sparrow's Pirate Tutorial

* Character CongOasis

Restaurants

* El Pirata Y el Perico Restaurante is found opposite of the attraction. It offers counter service dining, serving Mexican cuisine, with the same open air seating common to Mexico. The name ''El Pirata Y el Perico Restaurante'' is Spanish for ''The Pirate and the Parrot''. It is open seasonally for lunch and dinner.

* Sunshine Tree Terrace

* Aloha Isle

Shopping

* Bwana Bob's

* Island Supply

* Zanzibar Trading Company

* Agrabah Bazaar

* Pirates Bazaar

* The Crow's Nest

Tokyo Disneyland

Tokyo Disneyland's Adventureland is a mish-mash of the various Adventureland interpretations. It features a unique ride - Western River Railroad - and a different version of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, minus the Walt Disney tag, with a more Hawaiian feel. It features a sub-land, similar to the Magic Kingdom Adventureland, based on New Orleans Square at Disneyland, which features Pirates of the Caribbean. World Bazaar's buildings fade into New Orleans.

Attractions

* Jungle Cruise

* Western River Railroad

* The Enchanted Tiki Room: Stitch Presents Aloha e Komo Mai!

*

* Swiss Family Treehouse

Disneyland Park, Paris

The fourth Adventureland is more Asian in style, with heavy Indian influences and Morrocan decor. It seems the ''Aladdin'' Disney classic inspired the Imagineers when designing the entrance area of the Parisian Adventureland, possibly because the film was in production when the land was being built. Original attractions include ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril'', a compact steel roller coaster around an abandoned Cambodian temple, with one inversion ; ''Adventure Isle'', an island of detailed walkways and hidden secrets; and ''Le Passage Enchanté d'Aladdin'' , a walk-through in the Agrabah Bazaar tracing the story of Disney's Aladdin. There is no Jungle Cruise, largely due to the unsuitable Parisian climate. A "Jungle Expedition" attraction was planned at the opening of the park, but was cancelled when the resort hit financial difficulties.

Attractions

*

* Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril

* Adventure Isle

* La Cabane des Robinson

* Le Passage Enchanté d'Aladdin ''''

* Pirates' Beach ''''

* Captain Hook's Pirate Ship

Restaurants

* Blue Lagoon restaurant

* Colonel Hathi's Pizza Outpost

* Restaurant Hakuna Matata

* Agrabah Café Restaurant

* Coolpost

Shopping

* Indiana Jones Adventure Outpost

* Le Coffre du Captain

* Les Trésors de Shéhérazade

* La Girafe Curieuse

Hong Kong Disneyland

Hong Kong Disneyland's Adventureland, temporarily renamed Pirateland to celebrate the release of ''Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End'', is the biggest among all Disney parks and features a large island area home to Tarzan's Treehouse, which is circled by the Jungle Cruise, much like the Rivers of America in most Magic Kingdom–style parks' Frontierland area. It is also home to the "Festival of the Lion King" show.

Construction works is now being conducted in the area next to the entrance of the Theater of the Wild. It is confirmed that a temporary structure for Demon Jungle, an exclusive attraction during Halloween season, will be built beyond the Disneyland Railroad track.

Attractions

* Tarzan's Treehouse

* Jungle River Cruise

* Festival of the Lion King

* Liki Tikis

* Demon Jungle

* Adventureland Haunted Trail

Restaurants

* River View Cafe

* Tahitian Terrace

Shopping

* Professor Porter's Trading Post

Criticism

Though obviously rooted in Polynesia and the American idea of jungle “other”, Adventureland goes beyond that by not explicitly labeling anything. Middle-eastern architectural motifs, North African building styles, and African "primitive" elements mix Adventureland into a culturally and ethnically morphed space native to nowhere. Walt Disney's original intent was to bring the “unusual” foreign experiences to Americans attending his park. Some commentators argue that Adventureland now represents near-kitsch.

'Let it Snow' Christmas Parade

2008-09-29T08:31:00.003-07:00

'Let it Snow' Christmas Parade was a parade at Hong Kong Disneyland that replaced Disney on Parade, the park's regular operating parade. The Parade ran from November 23, 2007 through January 6, 2008 as part of the ''A Sparkling Christmas'' Holiday event.

The parade itself was essentially the same as Disney on Parade but with new Christmas additions, decorations and replacements.

Turtle Talk with Crush

2008-09-29T08:31:00.001-07:00

Turtle Talk with Crush is an attraction within "The Seas with Nemo & Friends" pavilion at Epcot, one of four theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort. It opened there in November 16, 2004 and later was duplicated as part of the Disney Animation at Disney's California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort. The attraction was open in Hong Kong Disneyland from May 24 until August 10, 2008 as part of the "Nonstop Summer Fun" Celebration.

Designed by Walt Disney Imagineering in collaboration with Pixar, the attraction consists of an unscripted, real-time conversation between Crush, the sea turtle from the /Pixar film ''Finding Nemo'', how likes to learn a little from the human world so that the guest can learn about the turtle world.

Attraction description

It is an audience participation show, where the little ones have reserve seating up front in the "green sea grass carpet", and parents and friends have "coral benches," similar to a movie theater-like room. Children are encouraged to sit up front so that they may have a better view of the "Window to the Ocean," and Crush. Crush comes down from the surface of the Ocean to appear in the "Window to the Ocean." Crush actually picks on the guest with whom he will like to talk, with the help of the host. Sometimes even Dori stops by, and says, "Hi." A "Hydrophone" is used for the underwater communication with Crush. Guests, especially children, are chosen to ask Crush questions. Crush looks and moves much as he does in the movie, complete with facial expressions and subtle gestures. Crush converses freely with guests using quick wit and humor.

Technology

The "Window to the Pacific" is in reality a large rear-projection screen portraying an animated undersea environment. Sea grasses wave on the ocean floor as fish and other aquatic creatures swim by. The image of Crush is rendered by voice-activated 3-D animation, projected at 30-frames-per-second so that the turtle's mouth moves in synchronization with the words of a hidden actor portraying the character. The sophisticated system enables the projected turtle to move about the screen, seemingly propelling himself with his flippers, doing somersaults, and hovering, in very convincing maneuvers controlled by the actor.

When engaging a particular child or adult in conversation, Crush will move to the side of the room where the involved guest is seated. The actor expertly mimics the character voice from the film, and is extremely adept at improvising clever and amusing reactions to questions and comments of the guests, whom he often addresses as "Dude." Undoubtedly, after playing scores of performances, the actor develops -- and perhaps writers have scripted -- humorous responses and sassy come-backs to the most typical and oft-repeated audience questions and remarks. The invisible actor sees the audience via a cleverly hidden camera or by other means, since he refers to the appearance and behavior of particular questioners, as well as their location in the theater. The show is a cutting-edge blend of sophisticated computer graphic techniques, image projection and live, interactive, quick-witted improvisation with every show being different and unique.

Special Services

It has special shows every Tuesday and Friday at 10:20 AM for guests that are hearing impaired. It's Wheelchair Accessible

Tomorrowland

2008-09-29T08:26:00.001-07:00

Tomorrowland is one of the many "themed lands" at the many theme parks owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company around the world. Each version of the land is different and features numerous classic and unique attractions that depict the numerous views of the future. All have the Tomorrowland name, except for Disneyland Paris, where this area is named Discoveryland.

Walt Disney was known for his futurist views and showed the American public, through his television shows, how the world was moving into the future, and Tomorrowland was the realistic culmination of his views. In his own words: "Tomorrow can be a wonderful age. Our scientists today are opening the doors of the Space Age to achievements that will benefit our children and generations to come. The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future."

Ironically, it is this movement into the future that has, on occasion, left Tomorrowland mired in the past. Disneyland's Tomorrowland is now in its third generation, and the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland is on its second. Disney itself has mentioned that it wanted to keep Tomorrowland from becoming "Yesterdayland," and Disney's 2007 film ''Meet the Robinsons'' features an amusement park called "Todayland" that has rides that look remarkably like and Disneyland's original Rocket Jets.

Disneyland

Tomorrowland 1955-1967

The first Tomorrowland opened at Disneyland on July 17, 1955, with only a subset of its planned attractions due to budget cuts. Because the timeline in the first park's construction was rushed, Tomorrowland was the last land to be finished. Walt Disney was reluctant to turn his land into a corporate showcase, but when the time crunch came he accepted any offer he could. Monsanto Chemicals, American Motors, Richfield Oil, and Dutch Boy Paint were some of the many company showcases that were open in Tomorrowland in the first few years. Since the park was on a strict budget, one cost cutting idea was to use the sets from the 1954 movie '''' as a walk through attraction, which remained until 1966. For the first four years, most of Tomorrowland was generally open space and considered to be very corporate fueled.

However, it was not solely exhibits, and had many attractions which have since been retired. Tomorrowland's showpiece was the TWA Moonliner, derived from the "Man in Space" set of three television shows in the 1950s. It was the tallest structure in the park at the time. Autopia, an opening day attraction, gave visitors a view of the soon to come National Interstate System. The Attraction still remains open, though has received numerous updates.

1957 brought Monsanto's "House of the Future," a plastic house with four wings cantilevered from a central plinth. This too had its precursors at World's Fairs, though in those cases they were simply homes with modern conveniences and aimed at housewives. Aside from displaying "modern" conveniences such as picture phones and television remote controls, this house introduced many people to their first microwave oven.

In 1959, three major attractions, the park's first billed attractions opened. The addition of the ALWEG Monorail, Submarine Voyage, and , were so big it was televised as the second opening of Disneyland. New attractions came, as Walt Disney focused his efforts on the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. After the fair he turned his attention to a new Tomorrowland and his original Florida Project.

Tomorrowland 1967-1998

Unfortunately, Walt Disney died in December 1966, almost seven months before a vast new Tomorrowland opened. In 1967 the area was completely rebuilt with new rides and scenery. The original layout was demolished, and a new set of buildings was erected. The addition of the Carousel theater , Flight to the Moon building, the Adventure Thru Inner Space building, a new Circle-Vision building, and the PeopleMover/Rocket Jets platform, gave Tomorrowland the "World on the Move" theme.

In 1973 "The World On The Move" began to change, as General Electric decided to close their show, Carousel Progress. Which would reopen later at a new home in Walt Disney World.

With the American Bicentennial approaching, Disney designers seized the opportunity of a vacated carousel theater to present a mega musical extravaganza featuring 114 Audio Animatronics - America Sings, in 1974. The following year Flight to the Moon was updated to Mission To Mars. It was that year, 1975, Walt's 1965 idea "Space Port" would finally break land, and become a reality 2 years later. Space Mountain! In May of 1977 the expansive Space Mountain double-decked complex was complete with an amphitheater, 2 story arcade, a restaurant, and expanded Peoplemover.

Tomorrowland 2055

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the planning phase of Michael Eisner's "Disney Decade" called for both American Tomorrowlands to receive makeovers. "Tomorrowland 2055" was slated to be completed by the late 1990s. The back-story of this renovation would be that with mysterious alien relics having been excavated in Disneyland, aliens were given the signal that Earth was now ready for intergalactic tourism and a century after Disneyland's opening, Disneyland would have become a popular destination for aliens visiting Earth. Within the new land were proposed and classic attractions such as:

Astro Orbitor,

Timekeeper,

Star Tours,

Rocket Rods,

ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter,

Captain EO,

Space Mountain,

Plectu's Fantastic Intergalactic Revue,

The UFO Show,

Disneyland Railroad,

Disneyland Monorail, and

Submarine Voyage.

The expansive project would have not only welcomed fresh attractions and makeovers, but would include features found at Disneyland Paris' Discoveryland which was then in the designing phase. Unfortunately due to the heavy cost of the project and the financial disaster of Disneyland Resort Paris, Tomorrowland 2055 was never built.

Tomorrowland 1998

A new Tomorrowland opened in 1998, loosely based on Disneyland Paris' Discoveryland and a "" concept. In place of the slow-moving PeopleMover was the ill-fated Rocket Rods. Most of the rides remained the same, except for the removal of Circle-Vision 360, Captain EO, and Mission to Mars attraction theaters. The Rocket Jets were replaced by a similar attraction called the Astro Orbitor, placed at the entrance of the land, at ground level. The original Rocket Jets ride mechanism remained intact atop the Rocket Jets queue, converted into an unmanned show element dubbed the "Observatron". Two EPCOT attractions found their place in Tomorrowland, "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience!" & "Innoventions". The whole land, including Space Mountain, was painted in bronzes, golds, and dark browns, with emerald green trims on some attractions. Landscaping, with apparent vegetable plots being planted in some locations, made reference to "neo-agrarian" concepts.

Today

In late 2003, Matt Ouimet became president of the Disneyland Resort and sought to change some of the cost-cutting trends established by the former management. Space Mountain was closed for two full years, as the entire ride was refurbished and the track was completely replaced, albeit with the same track plan. The empty Rocket Rods queue, the old Circle-Vision theater, was converted into "", a new version of the popular attraction at the Tokyo & Florida Disney Resorts.

In February 2005, Walt Disney Imagineering approved a repaint of Tomorrowland for the Happiest Homecoming on Earth fiftieth anniversary celebration. The new paint scheme incorporates a mix of blue, white and silver while keeping a little of 1998's gold and bronze colors.

Attractions

*''Astro Orbitor''

*''Autopia''

*''''

*''''

*''Disneyland Railroad''

*''Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage''

*''Honey, I Shrunk the Audience''

*''''

*''''

*''Star Tours''

*''''

Restaurants

*''Redd Rockett's Pizza Port''

*''The Spirit of Refreshment''

*''Tomorrowland Terrace''

Shopping

*''Little Green Men Store Command''

*''Star Trader''

*''Tomorrowlanding''

Background music

Since 2004, both Disneyland's and the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowlands have featured the same background area music, which includes updated instrumental versions of classic Tomorrowland attractions from both parks:

* "Miracles from Molecules"

* "Strange Things"

* "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow"

* "The Best Time of Your Life"

* "If You Had Wings"

* "The Timekeeper " from The Timekeeper

* "Seize the Future" from ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter

* "The Monorail Song"

Magic Kingdom

The second Tomorrowland opened on October 1, 1971 at the Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort, Florida, and, like at Disneyland, opened unfinished. But by 1975, the entire land was completed, and was built much closer to Walt Disney's vision for Tomorrowland.

Some of the most popular Disney park attractions premiered here, such as Space Mountain which opened in 1975 and is now part of every Tomorrowland around the world. Some classic Tomorrowland attractions which have closed in Disneyland still live on at the Magic Kingdom Park: the PeopleMover is here under the name of the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, and the Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress was moved here from California.

For most of its history, this Tomorrowland's color scheme was predominantly white with soft blues. In 1994, using the just-completed Discoveryland at Disneyland Paris as its guide, Tomorrowland was renovated to resemble a galactic spaceport as it would have been envisioned by the science-fiction comic strips of the early 20th century, like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. In essence, Tomorrowland would represent "the future that never was." Today's Tomorrowland has a much more metallic look, along with darker blues and purples, especially along its main concourse leading from the central hub.

Attractions

*''Astro Orbiter''

*''''

*''''

*''Galaxy Palace Theater''

*''Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor''

*''''

*''Stitch's Great Escape!''

*''Tomorrowland Arcade''

*''Tomorrowland Stage''

*''Tomorrowland Transit Authority''

*''Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress''

Tokyo Disneyland

At Tokyo Disneyland, Tomorrowland opened on April 15, 1983 after the Imagineers set out to create an urban Tomorrowland, much more like a working community than a showcase of future technology. The rides are much more technology-specific, and effects are much more expensive, due to a much larger budget from The Oriental Land Company.

The entrance and front area are similar to WDW's Magic Kingdom Tomorrowland, while the Space Mountain area is similar to Disneyland's Space Mountain area. The paint scheme of the Tomorrowland at Tokyo Disneyland is also mostly white.

Attractions

*''''

*''''

*''''

*''MicroAdventure!''

*''''

*''Showbase''

*''''

*''Star Tours''

Restaurants

*''Lite Bite Satellite''

*''Pan Galactic Pizza Port''

*''Plaza Restaurant''

*''Soft Landing''

*''Space Place FoodPort''

*''The Popping Pod''

*''Tomorrowland Terrace''

Shopping

*''Cosmic Encounter''

*''ImageWorks''

*''Planet M''

*''Solar Ray's Light Sopplies''

*''Stellar Sweets''

Closed Attractions

*''Captain EO''

*''Circle-Vision 360°''

*''Eternal Seas''

*''Magic Journeys''

*''Meet the World''

*''Starcade''

Disneyland Park Paris

Disneyland Resort Paris realizes Tomorrowland with an entirely new concept, Discoveryland. European culture was used distinctively in the park and Discoveryland uses the ideas of famed European thinkers and explorers, with Jules Verne featured most prominently.

Architecturally designed using Jules Verne's vision of the future as inspiration, the land is laid out very differently. The major Tomorrowland classics are there, such as Autopia and Star Tours, but Space Mountain is significantly changed. Originally conceived as "Discovery Mountain" it was to hold more than one attraction and a restaurant. But due to budget cuts, it was finished in 1995 as an improved version of the classic, but named Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune .

Bordering the Space Mountain show building is Lake Nautilus, with a walk-through recreation of the Nautilus from ''''. Also in Tomorrowland is Autopia and "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience". The showcase attraction on opening day was a Circle-Vision 360 film, titled Le Visionarium. The attraction featured two time-travelling robots that take Jules Verne into the world of the today, which was the future he dreamed and came true.

Parts of Discoveryland have been heavily inspired by the abandoned Disneyland expansion concept, Discovery Bay, which was to have sat on the north bay of the Rivers of America in the Californian park.

Space Mountain was completely refurbished in 2005 for the Happiest Celebration on Earth event, with a new soundtrack and special effects. opened April 8, 2006, in the former building of the Le Visionarium attraction, which closed in September 2004.

Attractions

*''Arcade Alpha & Arcade Bêta''

*''Autopia''

*''''

*''Disneyland Railroad''- Discoveryland Station

*''Honey, I Shrunk the Audience''

*''L'Astroport Services Interstellaires''

*''Les Mystères du Nautilus''

*''Orbitron, Machines Volantes''

*''''

*''Star Tours''

*''Videopolis''

Restaurants

*''Buzz Lightyear's Pizza Planet Restaurant''

*''Café Hyperion''

*''Cool Station''

*''Rocket Café''

Shopping

*''Constellations''

*''Light Speed Photography''

*''Star Traders''

Closed Attractions

*''Arcade Omega''

*''Captain EO''

*''Le Visionarium''

Hong Kong Disneyland

The newest Tomorrowland opened on September 12, 2005 at Hong Kong Disneyland. Like the newer generations of the American Tomorrowlands, Hong Kong's version features an emphasis on metallic trim, with lots of blue and purple hues.

Since the opening of the park, some unique attractions have been added into the Hong Kong's Tomorrowland, such as a newer version of Autopia and Stitch Encounter.

Attractions

*''Autopia''

*''''

*''Orbitron''

*''''

*''Stitch Encounter''

*''UFO Zone''

Restaurants

*''Comet Café''

*''Starliner Diner''

Shopping

*''Space Traders''

*''Star Command Suppliers''

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (attraction)

2008-09-29T08:16:00.001-07:00

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is a dark ride based upon the film ''The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'', itself based on the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne. The attraction exists in slightly different forms at the Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort; Disneyland Park; and Hong Kong Disneyland. Pooh's Hunny Hunt, located in Tokyo Disneyland, is an entirely different "E-ticket class" attraction, featuring full audio animatronics and an innovative 'trackless' ride system.

History

After the rise in popularity of Walt Disney's film adaptation of Winnie the Pooh, Disney Imagineers made plans in the late 1970s for a Winnie the Pooh attraction at Disneyland's soon-to-be renovated Fantasyland. However in 1983, when the renovated Fantasyland reopened, a Winnie the Pooh attraction was notably absent.

Following the success of the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, plans were made for a new section of the park located behind Fantasyland. Called Mickey's Toontown, this section of the park would recreate the Toontown that was seen in the film. One of the rides that would have gone on the east side of this land was a Winnie the Pooh dark ride in which guests would ride in "spinnable" honey pots through what was conceptualized as the best scenes from the three Winnie the Pooh featurettes. The ride fell through before it could be made, though, and the space that this ride was to have taken up and vehicle design of this ride were worked into Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin.

Seven years later, during a period when the character was undergoing a resurgence in popularity, plans for a Winnie the Pooh attraction were approved at a different park: Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. That park's Fantasyland, much larger than the original Disneyland's, had the space to easily accommodate a new attraction. However, planners instead decided to utilize an existing structure, that of the Fantasyland attraction Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

When some fans found out that Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was being shuttered for a Pooh attraction, they protested against its closure, organizing mass ridings along with peaceful protests. Despite cries from fans, the Walt Disney Company went ahead with its plans and the first The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction opened in June 1999, proving popular with younger crowds.

The next version of the attraction, considerably different in configuration, was Pooh's Hunny Hunt, which opened in Tokyo Disneyland. Due to a closure of most of the Skyways at Disney Parks across the world, including Tokyo, a space was left in its place. With a budget of over $130 million, and featuring a never-before-used 'trackless' ride technology, Pooh's Hunny Hunt opened in late 2000 to large crowds and praise by many Disney internet fansites. To date, the attraction continues to have some of the longest wait times of any attraction at the Tokyo Disney Resort.

The only solution to complete the growing roster was to bring the Winnie the Pooh attraction to Disneyland. An original plan from the mid 1990s had an indoor and outdoor light boat ride featuring a Winnie the Pooh theme, which was shelved by 1999. So, a new dark ride was planned. However, Disneyland is the only resort of all five Disney Resorts to have little room for expansion. The only solution to open an attraction in the park was to utilize a current attraction.

Fantasyland was ruled out because it contained the least amount of available space and because of the age of its buildings; park managers anticipated that the attraction would be popular and decided to place it in an area that could better accommodate the crowds. Critter Country, a small parcel between New Orleans Square and Frontierland was ultimately chosen, since Winnie the Pooh already had his own greeting area in that land. The area already featured two popular attractions, Splash Mountain and Country Bear Jamboree. The latter being the first attraction to open in the land in 1972.

Imagineers chose to replace the Country Bear Playhouse with Pooh due to its lack of popularity, which would require major excavation for space and leveling for the ride. When news of the former attraction's demise broke, many fans were once more upset at the loss of another classic attraction and again sought to change the park managers' minds. However, then-managers Paul Pressler and Cynthia Harris, both unpopular with Disneyland enthusiasts, ignored this and continued.

The budget for the attraction was set at a reported $30,000,000, most of it dedicated to reformatting the Country Bear Playhouse show building. When it finally opened in 2003, it received large promotions by park management and lines were somewhat long at first, but quickly dropped off. Its turnover rate with guests was low compared to older dark rides in Fantasyland.

Some Disneyland enthusiast websites are generally critical of the attraction, considering it cheap and a bad reminder of the Paul Pressler/Cynthia Harris era of Disneyland's management. However, for younger and other guests, the ride is considered fun and another addition to the park. Some columnists still poke fun at it by posting images of the attraction's average wait times of 2 or 5 minutes while other similar rides might have 30, 75 or even 90 minute waits, even on days when the park might be at full capacity.

Some of the ride's advocates have commented that the ride has low waits because it is hidden in the northwest corner of the park, yet said location is adjacent to Splash Mountain, one of the most visited attractions in the park, and near the Haunted Mansion, another popular classic attraction. However, amongst all four versions of the attraction, this one is the least popular.

Hong Kong Disneyland, which opened in September 2005, opened with The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is the only dark ride in Fantasyland . It was based on a variety of versions of the attraction, but is most similar to the first version at the Magic Kingdom. It remains one of the most visited attractions in Fantasyland, with a usual occasion of running out of fastpasses and waits for over 120 minutes on peak days.

Ride walkthroughs

Florida and Hong Kong

The ride vehicles go out of the load area, and arrive near a giant story-book showing Winnie-the-Pooh and Christopher Robin. The vehicles arrive in the Hundred Acre Wood during a rather blustery day, with holding onto a broom while being spun around. Pooh is holding onto a balloon while trying to reach for some honey, while Eeyore patronizes him. Meanwhile Roo begins to be blown away as holds onto him. In 's home, everything is scattered about, including a rather curious picture of J. Thaddeus Toad himself handing a deed over to owl. There is also a picture of Winnie the Pooh greeting Moley , which is flat on the floor to the right. These were placed as a tribute to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, the ride that Winnie the Pooh replaced.

The ride then passes a second giant storybook page, where suddenly Tigger bounces out, whilst the ride vehicles begin to bounce like Tigger. The ride follows Tigger through the Hundred Acre Wood, where he randomly pops up. Tigger bounces upside down at one point, before the ride moves on to Pooh's home. It transpires that Tigger has pinned Pooh to the floor as he tells him about Heffalumps and Woozles. Once in Pooh's house, Pooh falls asleep, and magically floats up into the sky, as the room blackens and is lit up by fibre optics .

The ride vehicles then move into a strange room as Pooh floats through. There are objects with eyes and mouths, while giant woozles with jack-in-the-box necks move in front of the guests. The ride moves round some very strange objects: a purple woozle lights a heffalump, causing a giant smoke ring to come from its trunk , and a giant heffalump has holes that reveal the way out of the heffalump scene. Other funhouse effects are seen as the vehicles make an escape out of the heffalump scene, indicated by an umbrella and a watering can pouring rain over a pot of honey.

After this the vehicles arrive in a room painted with rain and cloud patterns, as thunder and lightning go off, and then reenters the Hundred Acre Wood, which is experiencing the rainstorm. The ride vehicles begin to "float", although this is achieved by moving the vehicles at a steady speed. Eeyore complains about the wind and then about the rain. Gopher squirts water out of his mouth. Roo, Rabbit, Tigger and Owl attempt to save Piglet from floating away, and the ride vehicles move to find Pooh flying around owing to the wind.

The vehicles move into the final scene, where everyone apart from Pooh is celebrating that the rain has gone away. Piglet was a sculpted figure with movement, while Tigger, Rabbit, Eeyore, Owl, Kanga and Roo are illustrations on the wall behind. The vehicles move past Pooh enjoying a load of honey, before arriving back in the load area.

California

Upon leaving the outdoor load area, the ride vehicles arrive indoors into the Hundred Acre Wood where Pooh is again trying to get the honey with the balloon. With Eeyore and the other characters is Gopher who appears out of his hole to greet the guests. The ride vehicles move into the rain scene, moved from the second to last scene in Florida's to the second scene in California's. Most of the things at this point are identical to Florida's. The ride vehicles move into the shortened Tigger scene, before moving to Pooh's bedroom where a similar part to that in Florida's concurs.

The ride vehicles move into the Heffalump and Woozles dream sequence where the woozles with jack-in-the-box necks watch the guests. This version of the Heffalumps and Woozles scene focuses on the Heffalump and Woozle characters, with the absence of the objects with human eyes and mouths. A pink Tigger pins Pooh to the floor near some honey. Some of the effects at this part of the ride are similar to those at Florida's, minus a large balloon carrying Pooh above the guests. Instead, Pooh bobs up and down in a balloon suspended above a swirling whirlpool of honey. The mechanism was the one which once lowered "Teddi Barra" from the ceiling in Country Bear Jamboree, the Audio-Animatronic theater presentation previously housed in the show building.

As the ride vehicles leave this scene, a subtle tribute to Country Bear Jamboree is suspended above the archway. The trophy heads of Max the buck, Buff the buffalo and Melvin the moose, audio-animatronics from Country Bear Jamboree, may be spotted if one looks up and backwards while leaving the Heffalump/Woozle room. The heads were taken from theatre 2 of the Country Bear Playhouse. The vehicles enter the start of the finale scene where Pooh is enjoying a ''smackerel'' of honey. The Heffalumps can be seen flying off into Pooh's dreamland, prior to several of Pooh's friends tell him to wake up. Proceeding on, the ride passes Pooh's bed, before moving on to show Pooh's friends celebrating his birthday. As the vehicles move to the load area, several of the gifts Pooh received for his party are shown, and are moved back as the vehicles continue until they finally reach the load area.

Tokyo Disneyland

Attraction facts

Magic Kingdom

* Attraction name: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

* Grand opening: June 5, 1999

* Creative Design: Walt Disney Imagineering

* Themed Systems Design: Walt Disney & Ride & Show Engineering, Inc.

* Vehicle theme: Honey Pot

* Former attraction: Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

* Ride system: Dark ride / "D" Ticket class

Tokyo Disneyland

* Attraction name: Pooh's Hunny Hunt

* Grand opening: September 4, 2000

* Designer: Walt Disney Imagineering

* Vehicle theme: Honey Pot

* Former attraction: Skyway

* Ride system: Trackless LPS System Dark ride / "E" Ticket class

Disneyland

* Attraction name: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

* Grand opening: April 11, 2003

* Designer: Walt Disney Imagineering

* Vehicle theme: Beehive

* Former attraction: Country Bear Jamboree

* Ride system: Dark ride / "C" Ticket class

* Ride Duration 3:10 minutes

Hong Kong Disneyland

* Attraction name: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

* Grand opening: September 12, 2005

* Designer: Walt Disney Imagineering

* Vehicle theme: Honey Pot

* Ride system: Dark ride / "D" Ticket class

* '''Location:hong kong disneyland

The Golden Mickeys

2008-09-29T08:15:00.006-07:00

The Golden Mickeys is a musical revue-style stage show presented in the style of an awards ceremony with characters from Disney films being nominated for awards including heroism and romance. The show originated on the Disney Cruise Line as a replacement for Morty the Magician's show. The show was first introduced in September 2003 aboard the Disney Wonder. Later in the fall of 2004, the show was brought to the Disney Magic while in dry dock. The show is performed in the premiere theater on the ship, the Walt Disney Theater on Deck 4.

On the cruise ships, the show features "Ensign Benson", a timid crew member who finds herself thrust into the role of "host" when the scheduled host is missing at show time. Shy Ensign Benson , not feeling confident in her role as host, receives encouragement from various celebrities in the form of interactive video clips. She is also involved in several of the song and dance routines. These feature cast members in the costumes of characters from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pocahantas, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , Mulan, Toy Story, Toy Story 2, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Lady and the Tramp, , and The Lion King performing songs from these films.

One particularly fun aspect of this show is the pre-show area outside of the Walt Disney Theater. As guests enter the hallway towards the Walt Disney Theater, they walk down the red carpet with paparazzi on both sides furiously snapping photos of the "celebrities" . Outside of the theater doors, "Rona Rivers" conducts interviews with some of the "celebrities" as they come up the red carpet to enter the show, all the while a live video feed of the "celebrity interviews" is being shown on the two large screens in the front of the theater. Most people break out the fancy clothes to attend this event on the ship. It is truly an "event" and one of this highlights of the Disney Cruise experience.

Additional original cast members included Mark Baratelli, Jeremiah James, Joshua Carlson, Danny Calvert, Tony Wichowski, Erik McEwen, Emma Green, and Michelle Kaye. The Golden Mickeys was directed by Diane Paulus, who also directed The Donkey Show in New York City.

Hong Kong Disneyland version

A version of the show is performed at the Storybook Theatre in the Fantasyland area of Hong Kong Disneyland. The show is narrated in Cantonese, with simplified Chinese and English subtitles. All of the songs are performed in English. Here, the show begins with a performance of the title song including a dance performance based around cast members preparing costumes and taking press photos of arriving celebrities. “Live” film footage of Disney characters arriving by limousine and entering the theater along a red carpet is then projected on screens to the two sides of the stage before the characters enter through the auditorium aisle.

This version of the show has a running commentary from the host Bebe who conducts interviews with Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse and is also involved in several of the song and dance routines. These feature cast members in the costumes of characters from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, , Mulan, Lilo and Stitch, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast performing songs from these films. The show also includes aerial acrobatics, martial arts, puppetry and fireworks.

The Dapper Dans

2008-09-29T08:15:00.005-07:00

The Dapper Dans are a barbershop quartet that performs at Disneyland in Anaheim, California , at the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort , and at Hong Kong Disneyland in Lantau Island, Hong Kong . The Dans have been tested at Disneyland Paris in the past, but were cut due to cost management at the struggling theme park.

While the group usually performs as a quartet, they actually have up to twelve singers at each park, plus occasional substitutes. This allows them to have multiple quartets performing separately or to combine and form a larger ensemble. Membership has changed over the years as various singers have retired or died and new ones have been brought in to succeed them. Several of the Dapper Dans are members of the Barbershop Harmony Society.

You can be serenaded by the Dans at the Magic Kingdom in Florida while having your hair cut in a real, working barbershop on Main Street there. The Dans at Hong Kong Disneyland stroll up and down Main Street from Town Square. The Dans at Disneyland can be seen on their Schwinn custom 4-seater bicycle and in various locations around Main Street.

In the Magic Kingdom, Disney World, the Dapper Dans perform nine sets a day, seven days a week. They can be found on the horse-drawn trolley in the morning, and all over Main Street USA during the afternoon. At 5pm, the Dans join the Main Street Philharmonic and the Magic Kingdom Security Color Guard for the Flag Retreat Ceremony.

Another unique part of Dapper Dans lore is the fact that they use Deagan Organ Chimes as part of the act. Each of the eight chimes has three octaves of a single note, comprising a C scale. The Organ Chimes were made by the J.C. Deagan Company in Chicago, IL around 1901.

History

As of early 2006 the Dapper Dans at the Disneyland Resort consisted of Shelby Grimm , Bob Hartley , Jim Campbell , and Bill Lewis . In 2006 it was announced that a new group of Dapper Dans would be cast, to make their debut in May 2006. David Marchesano , Robbie Banner , Frank Romeo , and Steven Arlen can now be seen Tuesday through Saturday at Disneyland on Main Street, USA.

Film and Television Appearances

* "The Bell Telephone Hour", airdate February 17, 1961. .

* "", 7 episodes in 1966 . .

* "Tony Orlando and Dawn", airdate January 7, 1976 . .

* "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson", May 16, 1974 . .

* "Children's Miracle Network Telethon", airdate May 31, 1986 . .

* "" episode titled "Of Mice and Men", airdate February 8, 1993 .

* "The Simpsons" episode titled "Homer's Barbershop Quartet", airdate September 30, 1993 , as the singing voices of 'The Be Sharps'. .

* "Home Improvement" episode titled "Adios", airdate September 29, 1998 as 'The Flannels'. .

* "", released in November 2003, as 'The Singing Busts'. .

Personnel

The Dapper Dans lineup has changed over the years as various singers have retired or died and new performers have been brought in to succeed them.

* The Dapper Dans of Disneyland as of Fall 1995: Jim Campbell , Bill Lewis , Shelby Grimm , and John Heffron .

* The Dapper Dans of Disneyland, Summer, 2006: Brandon Brigham, David Marchesano, Steven Arlen, Frank Romeo.

* The first Dapper Dans of the Magic Kingdom at Disney World, Florida, in 1971: Dick Kneeland, Bub Thomas, Jerry Siggins, Bob Mathis.

* As of early 2008, The Dapper Dans of Main Street USA, Disney World, had two full-time quartets consisting of: Tenors Dan Bullock and Rob Cygan, Leads Ken Thiboult and Steve Culpepper, Basses Aaron Stratton and Kevin Miles, and Baritones Neel Tyree and Chad Bennett

Swiss Family Treehouse

2008-09-29T08:15:00.003-07:00

Swiss Family Treehouse is an attraction at several of the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. It was re-opened as Tarzan's Treehouse at Disneyland and opened under the name at Hong Kong Disneyland. The walk-through attraction is centered around a giant treehouse where children can hear and see various scenes based on the Disney movie ''''.

Swiss Family Treehouse

Almost two years after the film ''Swiss Family Robinson'' was released to theaters, Disneyland introduced the ''Swiss Family Treehouse'' to Adventureland. The attraction opened on November 18, 1962.

When the Magic Kingdom opened at Walt Disney World on October 1, 1971, the ''Swiss Family Treehouse'' was one of the original attractions of Adventureland. Similarly, when Tokyo Disneyland opened on April 15, 1983 and Disneyland Resort Paris opened as ''Euro Disneyland'' on April 12, 1992, the ''Swiss Family Treehouse'' was part of Adventureland. All three parks retain the original theme. The Paris version is called ''La Cabane Des Robinsons'' in .

Tarzan's Treehouse

In February 1999, Disneyland closed the ''Swiss Family Treehouse'', and Imagineers re-themed the attraction to coincide with the soon to be released '''' film. The giant artificial tree received a massive makeover, including thousands of replacement vinyl leaves and a new suspension bridge entrance from a new neighboring tree. On June 23, 1999, Tarzan’s Treehouse began welcoming park guests, just as Disney’s animated Tarzan premiered in movie theaters. The attraction also included new hands-on interactivity.

When Hong Kong Disneyland opened on September 12, 2005 it included ''Tarzan’s Treehouse'' built on ''Tarzan’s Island'' which is encircled by the Jungle Cruise.

The one within Paris was originally supposed to or was later on going to become a Tarzan's Treehouse but with a coaster around it. It is unknown why this project was cancelled.

Stitch Encounter

2008-09-29T08:15:00.001-07:00

Stitch Encounter is an interactive show located in Tomorrowland at Hong Kong Disneyland. A similar attraction, under the name "Stitch Live!", is located inside Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Resort Paris. Another attraction similar to Stitch Encounter, Turtle Talk with Crush, is located in both Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort and Disney's California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort.

The attraction consists of an unscripted, real-time conversation between Stitch, Experiment 626 from Disney's Lilo & Stitch movies and TV series, and park guests. The attraction, which opened in July 2006, was part of a three attraction expansion to Tomorrowland. It is located adjacent to the entrance of . The attraction offers shows in three different languages , to accommodate the variety of languages guests of Hong Kong Disneyland speak. Show times are available at the entrance of the attraction and each show has a length of approximately 20 minutes.

Attraction description

Guests are seated in a movie theater-like room, The "Space Traffic Control" room, and children are encouraged to sit up front, on the floor, so that Stitch can see them during the show. When the host of the "Space Traffic Control" requests the computer to search for an available spacecraft captain to talk to, the computer connects to Stitch's spacecraft. After that, guests in the "Space Traffic Control" room are chosen to chat with Stitch. Stitch can both interact with guests and take their pictures. A hidden cast member supplies Stitch's voice and controls his animation, allowing the character to talk and interact with guests. The "animated" character looks and moves much like he does in the movie, complete with corresponding facial expressions and gestures. The conclusion of the show occurs when the audience aids Stitch in his escape from Captain Gantu.

Space Mountain (Hong Kong Disneyland)

2008-09-29T08:14:00.003-07:00

Space Mountain at Hong Kong Disneyland in Hong Kong is the fourth version of the outer space-themed enclosed roller coaster in Disney parks. The newest Space Mountain is based on the refurbished Space Mountain at Disneyland, with a similar soundtrack and the same layout. It also features new show elements not presented in the refurbished California version . It will not feature the Rockin' Space Mountain configuration that is featured in Disneyland's Space Mountain.

Unlike most Space Mountains, the boarding area for the attraction is quite small. Not present is a Space Station of its two most similar counterparts at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland. Instead a dark queue featuring neon earth-tone colored planets along with star patterns decorate the area. Lining the walls of the station are colored neon light bars that are used for lighting and decoration.

It is the only Space Mountain to feature Single-Rider alongside its regular standby line. Also different than most Space Mountains, whose buildings pretty much stand alone, this incarnation features a building attached to it hosting a smaller attraction, but not visible from the ride itself.

Space Mountain - Ghost Galaxy

As part of Hong Kong Disneyland's Haunted Halloween event in 2007, Space Mountain went under a Halloween overlay, similar to Disneyland's Rockin' Space Mountain overlay. The new overlay appiled some of the same effects that Rockin' Space Mountain used, but instead of a rock 'n' roll concert, the ride was themed appropriately to the Halloween season. A new soundtrack was used as well for the overlay.

Attraction facts

* Grand opening: September 12, 2005

* Designers: Walt Disney Imagineering, Vekoma

* Vehicles: 14

** Vehicle theme: Rocket

** Total Cars Per Train: 2

** Seating: 3 rows of 2 people seated side by side.

** Total Riders: 6 People Per Car / 12 Per Train

* Building diameter: 200 feet

* Track Height: 75 feet

* Largest drop: 17 feet

* Building Height: 118 feet

* Track length: 3,450 feet

* Volume: 1.8 million cubic feet

* Top speed: 32 miles per hour

* Height requirement: 40 inches

* Ride duration: 2:45

** Space Mountain - Ghost Galaxy Version: 2:28

* Ticket required: "E"

* Music: ''Space Mountain'', composed by Michael Giacchino

** Space Mountain - Ghost Galaxy Music: Unknown

* Ride system: Roller coaster

Sleeping Beauty Castle

2008-09-29T08:14:00.001-07:00

Sleeping Beauty Castle is the fairy tale structure at the center of Disneyland Park and Hong Kong Disneyland Park. It is based on Germany's Neuschwanstein Castle, with some French inspirations .

Disneyland

Opened July 17, 1955, the castle is the oldest of all the Disney castles. It reaches a height of 77 feet .

Beginning April 29, 1957, visitors were able to walk through the castle and view several dioramas depicting the story of . The walk-through experience was discontinued in 2001. On July 17, 2008 it was announced that the Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-thru will reopen later in the year in time for the Holiday season at Disneyland and to coincide with the release of the 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition of Sleeping Beauty the following year.

During the 50th Anniversary

In celebration of Disneyland's , the castle was repainted and five turrets were decorated with stylized crowns, each representing a decade in the park's history

*The creation of Disneyland is represented by a pair of famous “Ears” peeking up over the horizon to see the wonders to come.

*“A World on the Move,” otherwise known as the “New Tomorrowland” of 1967, is represented by rocket ships and accented by opalescent planets.

*The beautiful Blue Fairy represents the debut of the beloved Main Street Electrical Parade.

*The Indiana Jones Adventure is represented by the evil Eye of Mara, guarded by mesmerizing snakes.

*The 50th Anniversary of Disneyland is represented by fireworks and Tinker Bell.

Facts

*The drawbridge of the castle used to be functional but was rarely used. It has only been publicly lowered on two occasions: when the park opened in 1955, and when was rededicated in 1983. The gears that control the drawbridge were removed during a refurbishment in 1996 and have not been replaced.

*While being filmed Walt Disney accidentally referred to the castle as Snow White's Castle. This blooper sparked false speculation among fans that the castle was originally going to be called "Snow White's Castle" but was changed to coincide with the release of Sleeping Beauty.

*The coat of arms over the entry archway is that of the Disney family.

*When the moat surrounding the castle is dredged, any money retrieved from it is given to charity.

*The Castle at first was blue like the Cinderella Castle from opening day but was then changed to what it is now .

Hong Kong Disneyland

The Sleeping Beauty Castle located at Hong Kong Disneyland is of the same design as Disneyland's version. The paint scheme of Hong Kong Disneyland's structure is identical to that used when Disneyland's original opened in 1955. The final turret of Hong Kong Disneyland's castle was put in place on November 18, 2004, and the castle opened to the public on September 12, 2005. It is notably smaller than all of its other siblings , but Walt Disney was said that Disneyland castles should be kept small to be warmer and friendlier and not intimidate the guests. It is the focal point for the daily firework display: "Disney In The Stars."

Logo usage

As Sleeping Beauty Castle is a Disney icon, it has become the basis for the logo of Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Television, Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group, Buena Vista Music Group and Buena Vista International. It is also heavily featured in advertisements for the Wonderful World of Disney, on and the Disney Channel.

Peter Pan's Flight

2008-09-29T08:13:00.007-07:00

Peter Pan's Flight is a single-bench suspended dark ride at the Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris theme parks. Located in Fantasyland, it is one of the few remaining attractions that was operational on Disneyland's opening day in 1955. The ride's story, music, staging and artwork are based on '''', the animated film version of the classic Peter Pan story by J.M.Barrie.

History

The original intent of the attraction was for the guests to fly through the ride as if they ''were'' Peter Pan. Audiences did not quite grasp this concept and were left wondering, "Why wasn't Peter Pan in the Peter Pan ride?"

The Florida version of the ride, which opened in 1971, expanded on the original Disneyland attraction. While the overall theme and format of the ride was consistent with the original in California, the Florida ride, as with the other dark rides, would feature its characters in Audio-Animatronic style.

In 1982, Disneyland's Fantasyland was in a phase of major overhaul. Some of its rides were relocated to make room for expanded versions of the dark rides . The posh redo of Fantasyland now resembled a rustic European village in the Alps, rather than a medieval faire. Mr. Toad and Snow White's dark rides moved their respective loading areas indoors, but the Peter Pan ride still featured a colorful mural, depicting the characters from the film. In 1983, an Audio-Animatronic Peter Pan was added to the ride.

Ride plot and features

Original Disneyland version

The original ride featured the ride vehicles flying through the nursery, out over London, onward to Never Land, and finally through Skull Rock, where riders saw Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Princess Tiger Lily and the Crocodile before unloading. The exterior had a medieval design with the queue being outside.

Expanded Disneyland version

Departing from the station, but before entering the actual ride building, guests fly over the rooftops of London. The new version of the ride includes Audio-Animatronic versions of the characters, just like in Florida. As part of the new remodel, scenes from the Florida ride were added to Disneyland, including the pirate ship deck . Few scenes are identical between the two versions, but they are very similar nonetheless. The new Disneyland ride opened as part of the rest of the New Fantasyland on May 25, 1983.

After winding through the queue, guests board a three-passenger miniature galleon, which is suspended from above to enhance the sensation of flying through the air . The ship leaves the load area and winds through the Darlings' nursery, passing Nana the Nursemaid next to some toy blocks, the Darlings in bed and Peter Pan's shadow on the wall. Peter's voice is then heard saying, "And off to Never Land!" At this point, the ship flies out the nursery window and out over moonlit London. Lights twinkle all around. Below the ships are various miniature versions of London's famous landmarks: , the Tower Bridge and the River Thames. Then, going past "the second star to the right and straight on 'til morning," the flying ships reach Neverland, where the guests go past some of its landmarks, including the Indian village, a glowing volcano, Mermaid Lagoon and Skull Rock. It is here that the guests encounter some of Neverland's most famous residents, including Princess Tiger Lily, , the Crocodile and Peter's arch rival, Captain Hook .

Expanded Walt Disney World installation

The load/unload area features Omnimover-style moving ramps to better allow for smooth traffic flow. The scenes in the ride are done on a larger scale and feature audio-animatronic figures. The Lost Boys camp and Mermaid Lagoon are now a part of the Never Land scene. Also, Hook's 48-foot pirate ship, complete with deck, masts, sails and rigging is included. Guests see Hook and Peter engaged in hand-to-hand combat on the mainsail, while the boys are lashed to the mast and Wendy is about to walk the plank. Guests then see Peter and the Darlings posed victoriously on the ship, poised to sail into the sky, back to London.

Tokyo Version

Peter Pan's Flight at Tokyo Disneyland is almost exactly the same as the one in Walt Disney World.

Paris Version

Peter Pan's Flight at Parc Disneyland in Paris is almost exactly the same as the expanded Disneyland version, but is 3 minutes long, while the other versions are about 2:30. It also has the biggest capacity per boat, with at least four guests riding compared to 2 or 3. The Paris version also tends to suffer constant breakdowns, and long queues are reduced by it being a Fastpass attraction.

Muppet Mobile Lab

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Muppet Mobile Lab is a free-roving, audio-animatronic entertainment attraction deployed at various Disney theme park locations around the world, including Innoventions Plaza in Epcot at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and Disney's California Adventure park in Anaheim, California. It was also introduced at Hong Kong Disneyland in Hong Kong as one of four new attractions to be launched in 2008.

Implemented on a Segway platform, it is an interactive comedy show performed by two Muppet characters, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant, . The characters ride their two-wheeled rocket-ship/laboratory vehicle.

Mickey's WaterWorks

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Mickey's WaterWorks is the summertime parade at Hong Kong Disneyland. It was originally created exclusively for Hong Kong Disneyland for the 2007 Summer season by Walt Disney Creative Entertainment, and is presented by Bonaqua Drinking Water. Although Mickey's WaterWorks officially began its run on July 14th of that year, it made its debut one week earlier. The show returned for its' 2008 run on May 31st of that year.

As the title suggests, Mickey's WaterWorks is a splashy parade created to refresh and bring watery fun to guests from all walks of life. The parade showcases how Mickey Mouse and more than 30 other Disney characters keep Hong Kong Disneyland's landscape looking so beautiful and lush. However, guests viewing the parade must be aware that water is everywhere, except for the Dry Areas of the route located by signs along the route.

Favorite Disney characters, some of whom had never appeared at Hong Kong Disneyland before prior to the debut of this parade, entertain guests with a water-filled extravaganza of music, dance and a host of colorful themed floats together with over 100 performers set to an original score.

Mickey's PhilharMagic

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Mickey's PhilharMagic is a 3-D film attraction at the Magic Kingdom theme park in the Walt Disney World Resort and at Hong Kong Disneyland. The film was directed by George Scribner, who is best known for directing Disney's 1988 animated film, ''Oliver and Company''. ''Mickey's PhilharMagic'' is a 12-minute long show featuring 3D effects, interactive smells and water as well as a number of characters from Disney movies. It is shown on the largest purpose built 3D screen ever made, at one hundred and fifty feet wide.

Locations

At Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, ''Mickey's PhilharMagic'' is located adjacent to Peter Pan's Flight in Fantasyland. This is the fourth attraction to utilize this show building. The theatre originally hosted the Mickey Mouse Revue. Later, it was the home to the 3-D ''Magic Journeys'' film after it left pavilion to make way for ''Captain EO''. Most recently, it was home to the stage presentation ''Legend of The Lion King''.

In Hong Kong Disneyland, ''Mickey's PhilharMagic'' is located adjacent to the Dumbo, The Flying Elephant attraction in Fantasyland.

Attraction development

The attraction is unique in being one of a very select amount of attractions in in which Walt Disney Imagineering has collaborated with another division of The Walt Disney Company - in this instance it was Walt Disney Feature Animation. This same partnership developed the ''Fantasmic!'' shows at Disneyland and the Disney's Hollywood Studios. Legendary Disney animator Glen Keane re-rendered Ariel from '''' in 3D, returning after rendering her in 2D in the original movie. Nik Ranieri, supervising animator of Lumiere in '''', also returned to animate that character in 3D. Donald Duck's Voice is actually archival voice recordings by his original voice actor, Clarence Nash. Tony Anselmo only recorded four lines for the attraction.

Plot synopsis

Mickey Mouse is performing with his PhilharMagic Orchestra at the Fantasyland Concert Hall. Inside, there are posters advertising the Concert Hall's past productions and performers, such as Hades from '''' and from ''''. Upon entering the theater's lobby, guests pick up their "opera glasses" . During their wait, guests hear orchestral music from ''Fantasia 2000'' and other Disney animated films.

Goofy, the Concert Hall's stage manager, admits the guests into the main theater, where final preparations for the performance are underway. Unfortunately, Donald Duck has gone missing just as Goofy raises the curtains to reveal that the stage is empty, save for a conductor's podium and a small steamer trunk, within which Donald is sleeping. Mickey asks Donald to unpack the instruments, then places his famous Sorcerer's Hat on the podium, telling Donald not to touch it.

After Donald unpacks all the instruments, including a grand piano, from the small trunk, he is tempted to try on the Sorcerer's Hat himself. He does so, which causes the magical instruments to come to life. However, when Donald bullies a small flute, the other instruments rebel, creating a whirlwind of magic and music. He loses the hat in the maelstrom and passes through scenes from '''', '''', '''', ''The Lion King'', '''' and '''' while trying to retrieve the hat.

Ultimately, Donald retrieves the hat, only to have it knocked away by . Donald jumps after it, returning to the musical maelstrom that he had left earlier. Mickey returns, grabs the hat and uses its powers to restore order. As a fitting end, Donald gets knocked into a tuba and is then shot from the stage and into the theater's back wall.

Talent

Most of the original voice cast reprised their original character roles in each of their own respective Disney films, excluding Peter Pan , Donald Duck and Simba . According to Disney staff members at Walt Disney World, an estimate of about 80 talented musicians and/or background singers performed the music for the film as well as the return of famed composer Alan Menken and lyricist Tim Rice , who arranged the music for each song they had worked on since some verses or lines of these songs were skipped for this attraction.

Mickey Mouse's House

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Mickey Mouse's House is a themed attraction at several disney theme parks around the world. It is a walkthrough attraction through Mickey Mouse's home in the Mickey's Toontown themed area.

History

The attraction first opened in 1988 with Mickey's Birthdayland at the Magic Kingdom. Though similar it was far from what you see today. It next opened at with Mickey's Toontown and whenever Tokyo Disneyland opened Toontown it come with a Mickey's House as well. When Birthdayland was renovated into Mickey's Toontown Fair the attraction still remained but had differences from the original.

Mickey's Houses In The Parks

Even though the attractions are the same principal concept they are somewhat unique in a way.

*Disneyland - The name is Mickey's House and Meet Mickey. Scenes include Bedroom, living room , kitchen, laundry room, cartoon set, and dressing room.

*Tokyo Disneyland - The name is Mickey's House with the same scenes as The California version.

*Magic Kingdom - The name is Mickey's Country house. Scenes include bedroom, living room, kitchen, gameroom, garden, and the garage. While walking through the garden you see Pluto's Doghouse and you meet Mickey in the judge's tent other than his dressing room. The garage of the house used to feature a red car that was complete with balloon tyres to create a cartoon look. The car was removed when Mickey's Starland was replaced by Mickey's Toontown Fair. It's current location is unknown.

*Hong Kong Disneyland - Mickey's House is a temporary attraction located in Main Street, U.S.A., which was originally scheduled to be available exclusively as part of the ''Year of the Mouse Celebration'' from 22 January 2008 until 24 February 2008. The attraction was being extended until March 2008.

Main Street, U.S.A.

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Main Street, U.S.A. is the first "themed land" inside the entrance of the many ''Magic Kingdom''-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the world.

Each Main Street, U.S.A. has a train station above the entrance. At Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland, Sleeping Beauty Castle stands in the distance beyond the end of the street. At the Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland, Cinderella Castle stands at the end.

Main Street, U.S.A. is home to City Hall, in which the Guest Relations office is located. Further along Main Street, the names painted in the windows on Main Street serve as credits for some of the many people, s and others, who contributed in some way to the creation of Disneyland. Largely they appear as fictional businesses , and they often refer to a hobby or interest that the person in question had. Ub Iwerks's window, for example, refers to his prowess with cameras. For Disneyland's 50th anniversary, on July 17, 2005, a first-story window on each Main Street was unveiled with a dedication to all the cast members who had worked for Disney throughout the years. The streets are paved with resilient asphalt to prevent aching of feet.

Disneyland

Inspired by Walt Disney's hometown of Marceline, Missouri , Main Street, U.S.A. is designed to resemble the center of a turn-of-the-century American town. According to Harper Goff, who worked on Main Street, U.S.A. with Walt, he showed Walt some photos of his childhood home of Fort Collins, Colorado. Walt liked the look, and so many of the features of the town were incorporated into Main Street, U.S.A.

Walt Disney said, "For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates, Main Street will bring back happy memories. For younger visitors, it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of their grandfather's youth." Above the at Disneyland is Walt Disney's personal apartment, fully furnished but off-limits to the public. A lamp is kept burning in the front window as a tribute to his memory, except at Christmas where a small replaces the lamp.

In the circular hub in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle, the bronze "Partners" statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse is surrounded by smaller bronzes of familiar Disney characters, such as Donald Duck and the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. "Partners," sculpted by Blaine Gibson, was added in 1993.

During the Halloween season, a pumpkin bust of Jack Skellington is seen around "Partners."

It is listed as a real street in the Thomas Guide.

Attractions

* Disneyland Railroad

* Main Street Cinema

* Main Street Vehicles: Fire Engine; Horse-Drawn Streetcars; Horseless Carriage; Omnibus

*

Image:Disneyland-FireEngine01.jpg|Fire Engine

Image:Disneyland-HorseDrawnStreetcar.jpg|Horse-Drawn Streetcar

Image:Disneyland-HorselessCarriage01.jpg|Horseless Carriage

Image:Disneyland-Omnibus01.jpg|Omnibus

Restaurants

* Blue Ribbon Bakery

* Carnation Café

* Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor

* Main Street Cone Shop

* Plaza Inn

* Refreshment Corner

Shopping

*Emporium

*Candy Palace

*China Closet

*Disneyana

*Penny Arcade

*Newsstand

*Disney Showcase

*Main Street Pin Shop

*Main Street Magic Shop

*New Century Jewelry

*20th Century Music Company

Magic Kingdom

Instead of being a replica of a small midwestern American town, Main Street at Walt Disney World features some stylistic influences from around the country, such as New England and Missouri. This is most noticeable in the "four corners" area in the middle of Main Street where each of the four corner buildings represents a different architectural style. There is also no Opera House as there is at Disneyland; instead there is the Exposition Hall.

Main Street is lined with shops selling merchandise and food. The decor is early-20th century small-town America, inspired by Walt Disney's childhood and the film Lady and the Tramp. City Hall contains the Guest Relations lobby where cast members provide information and assistance. A real working barber shop gives haircuts for a fee. The Emporium carries a wide variety of Disney souvenirs such as plush toys, collectible pins, and Mickey-ear hats. Tony’s Town Square and the Plaza Restaurant are sit-down restaurants. Casey's Corner is at the end of Main Street and sells traditional American ball park fare including hot dogs & fries.

In the distance beyond the end of Main Street stands Cinderella Castle. Though only 189 feet tall, it benefits from a technique known as forced perspective. The second stories of all the buildings along Main Street are shorter than the first stories, and the third stories are even shorter than the second, and the top windows of the castle are much smaller than they appear. The resulting visual effect is that the buildings appear to be larger and taller than they really are.

Main Street is considered the opening credits for the Magic Kingdom. You pass under the train station , and then you view the opening credits on the upper stories of the main street buildings. Each window has a business name on it, such as "Seven Summits Expeditions, President", each of these people has a connection to Disney. The windows/credits are ordered as they would be for a movie.

In addition to the bronze "Partners Statue" of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse in front of Cinderella Castle, there is also the "Sharing the Magic Statue" of sitting with Minnie Mouse near the park's entrance.

Surrounding the "Partners Statue" at the central hub, are several iconic Disney characters featured throughout the park. Some of these include; Minnie, Donald, B'rer Rabbit, Goofy, Chip and Dale, etc.

Disneyland Park

This street is themed slightly differently from the others; the decor is more 1920s than turn-of-the-century, though the buildings are almost identical to those in Florida, with influences from the flapper and ragtime eras and an emphasis on baseball culture and the rise of the automobile. Instead of horse-drawn trolleys and Victorian vehicles, plans originally featured trams to fit with the 1920s theme, but were scrapped. Also, due to often cold, rainy weather in the area, the Imagineers compromised and offered covered walkways on either side of Main Street called "arcades". There is the "Discovery Arcade" on the side closest to Discoveryland, and the "Liberty Arcade" on the side closest to Frontierland. These provide access to all of the shops along the length of Main Street, while giving shelter from the weather. They also provide a passageway when the street is crowded during parades and fireworks.

Attractions

*Main Street Vehicles

*Horse-Drawn Streetcars

*Liberty Arcade

*Discovery Arcade

*Disneyland Railroad Main Street Station

*Central Plaza Stage

Restaurants

* Walt's-An American Restaurant

* Plaza Gardens Restaurant

* Casey's Corner

* Victoria's Home-Style Restaurant

* Market House Deli

* Cable Car Bake shop

* Cookie Kitchen

* The Coffee Grinder

* The Ice Cream Company

* The Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlour

Shopping

*Dapper Dan's Hair Cuts

*Emporium

*Town Square Photography

*Harrington's Fine China & Porcelains

*Main Street Motors

*Disneyana Collectibles

*Boardwalk Candy Palace

*Disney & Co.

*The Storybook Store

*Disney Clothiers, Ltd.

*Lilly's Boutique

*Ribbons & Bows Hat Shop

*The Bixby Brothers

*Glass Fantasies

*Plaza East Boutique & West Boutique

Hong Kong Disneyland

Attractions and Entertainment

*Animation Academy

*Art of Animation

*Main Street Vehicles

*Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad

*City Hall

*Disney on Parade

*High School Musical: LIVE!

*Muppet Mobile Lab

*Disney in the Stars

Seasonal attractions and entertainment

*Main Street Haunted Hotel

*Turtle Talk with Crush

*Mickey's WaterWorks

Restaurants

*Plaza Inn

*Market House Bakery

*Main Street Corner Cafe

Shopping

*Emporium

*Main Street Sweets

*Main Street Menchantile

*The Curiosity Shop

*Town Square Photo

*Midtown Jewelery

*Crystal Arts

*Silhouette Shop

Tokyo Disneyland

World Bazaar is the alternative of Main Street, U.S.A. It is covered by a glass conservatory roof to shield guests from the Japanese weather. Amongst others, World Bazaar features a 1950s American diner. World Bazaar features the most eateries out of the "Main Streets", with 3 table service restaurants There is also a larger side street called "Center Street" that runs across Main Street which exits on either side into Tomorrowland and Adventureland. This is also the only "Main Street" that does not have a train station. World Bazaar is also home to Tokyo Disneyland's Club 33.