A Time Traveler Comes Full Circle

Spaceship Earth is re-imagined by one of its original Imagineers

Bob Zalk was a wide-eyed, newly hired audio engineer when he took on one of his first projects with Walt Disney Imagineering: working on the mighty Epcot® icon, Spaceship Earth, now presented by Siemens. 25 years later, as Senior Show Producer, he found himself leading the team to take this all-time great attraction, and make it even greater for the 21st century and beyond. And you'll be able to experience the newly enhanced attraction this winter.

Bob and his team enhanced all of the scenes on this time-travel attraction with new lighting effects, costumes and set decoration, but even more than that, they also created an entirely new story "overlay" to blend the classic scenes with new ones and to add a special interactive aspect to its finale.

A new story for the enhancement

"We're telling a different story this time," he explained. "Our new story is essentially about how all the innovations of one generation influence and inspire another. There's definitely a relationship between the caveman in the early scenes, who is writing on walls, to our era in which we write on computers. It's a series of building blocks that add upon each other as we travel up through Spaceship Earth."

Once you reach the top of the 165-foot diameter Spaceship Earth geodesic dome, the new, interactive touch screens on your "time machine" vehicle will invite you to create your own visions of the future and see yourself in that future.

On top of all that, a new narration will be accompanied by an exciting new musical score composed and conducted by nine-time Emmy® Award winner Bruce Broughton, who has created music for many other major Disney attractions and films. "It's a challenge to create music for an attraction like this because you have to know how to blend the music seamlessly from scene to scene," Bob explained. "You want to treat an attraction with the kind of majesty it deserves and Bruce rises to the occasion."

"Project Tomorrow: Inventing the World of Tomorrow"

After you leave your time machine, you can explore a new interactive area with lots of fun and fascinating exhibits. "There's Body Builder, in which you wear 3-D glasses to assemble a digital human body (who talks back to you!), and simulates Siemens' remote surgery technology," Bob explained. "Then we have Super Driver, a driving simulation video game that showcases Siemens' auto accident avoidance systems.

"Innervision shows you the future of medical diagnostics in your home—something like your bathroom mirror giving you diagnostics on your body. And Power City is a game what shows how to manage power in a growing city, from routing power to neighborhoods where it's needed to replacing fossil fuels with wind and solar power."

All time favorites will live on through time

But the essence of Spaceship Earth will remain a constant. "Everything that everyone loved about the attraction—the smell of Rome burning, the monk snoring—will still be there, but it will be a new experience in a good many ways," Bob explained. "I think we're all mindful of the tradition that these kinds of attractions hold. So when we approach it as a team, we do it very carefully. You want to keep the ingredients that made it special."

And it's personally very special to Bob Zalk. "Coming in as a young Imagineer 25 years ago and getting to work on something like Spaceship Earth-I was just in awe, not only of the attraction, but also of the people I was privileged to work with and their years with the company. I learned a lot from them. Now at this point, we have young people on our team and we're now mentoring these Imagineers. I'm getting an interesting flashback feeling. How often do you get a chance to work on something like this two times around?"

New Disney's Hollywood Studios logo unveiled

by ScottPowers on Oct 25, 2007 11:07:41 AM

Moving toward the big name change coming up in January, Walt Disney World has unveiled the new logo for Disney's Hollywood Studios -- featuring Mickey Mouse holding a clapboard.

The logo replaces the MGM lion logo that has graced Disney-MGM Studios since it opened in 1989.

"Mickey still plays a prominent role for us," said Studios vice president Michael O'Grattan, "and Hollywood now truly is our middle name."

Even as it announced the name change back in August, Disney revealed several entertainment changes that will debut at about the same time.

Next year the new "Toy Story Mania"! ride (under construction at left)-- the only major attraction currently under construction or announced at Walt Disney World -- will open.

The current Disney Stars and Motor Cars parade will be replaced with "Block Party Bash," a higher-energy play, party and dance show that has been a hit at Walt Disney Co.'s California Adventure theme park in California. In addition, new characters from Playhouse Disney, notably those from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins and Handy Manny, will perform in the "Playhouse Disney-Live On Stage!" show. And this fall's release of the new Disney Channel movie Disney High School Musical 2: School's Out is reflected with a new theme-park street show replacing "High School Musical Pep Rally."

The name change not only gives the park a broader, updated image, as Disney officials maintain, but also drops a name that caused some legal problems in the 1990s.

Disney officials insist that dispute, with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., is behind them and had no bearing on the decision to rename the park. In the 1990s, Disney and MGM were locked in lawsuits for many years over the name, until courts ruled that Disney could continue using the name at Walt Disney World.

The name MGM was originally adopted for the park through a 1985 licensing agreement with the MGM and some related corporations. In addition to giving Disney rights to the name, the contract offered rights to some of the more famous images and characters from famous MGM movies such as The Wizard of Oz.

However, in the 1990s the two corporations sparred off and on over Disney's use of the name. In 1992, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled that Disney retained rights to the name for Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World. Another ruling in 1997 concluded that MGM had rights to the name in most other uses.

Even after the name change, Disney will continue to use some MGM properties.

Disney segues into Segway trips

Scott Powers and Christopher Boyd

Sentinel Staff Writers

October 8, 2007

Walt Disney World now is offering "Segway" hiking through its Fort Wilderness camping area.

Disney, which has been testing Segway trips along its Fort Wilderness trails for about a year, announced the formal start of its "Wilderness Back Trail Adventures." For $85 per person, a visitor can take a two-hour tour of the Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground in tours offered twice a day on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Segways are self-balancing, two-wheeled electric vehicles.

Riders must be at least 16 years old. Disney also offers Segway training at tours at Epcot. More information is available through Disney's reservations line, 407-939-8687.

Homes for rent

Central Florida could well be the vacation-home rental capital of North America. Next spring, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and an events management company, MSE Management, plan to hold an exhibition in Atlanta that focuses on the fast-growing business.

The vacation-home rental concept was born in Europe and British tourists introduced the lodging alternative to Central Florida. There are now 20,000 to 25,000 vacation homes in the region, enough to give the conventional lodging industry some stiff competition.

The Vacation Home Expo, scheduled for April 11-13 next year at Cobb Galleria, will provide information on the vacation-home industry, focusing on condos, villas and houses that are rented for short durations.

Crofton is keynote speaker

Walt Disney World President Meg Crofton will be the keynote speaker at the International Association of Parks and Attractions annual convention at the Orange County Convention Center next month.

Crofton will speak about the future of the Disney theme park experience at the association's general managers and owners breakfast on Nov. 14 at 8:30 a.m.

The IAAPA Attractions Expo 2007 begins Nov. 12 and ends Nov. 16.

Closed for repairs

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad has closed at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom for refurbishment through Oct. 24.

The closure joins those at Epcot for Spaceship Earth, which has been closed since summer for a long-term update, and the Wonders of Life Pavilion, which closed indefinitely in January.

Disney's Typhoon Lagoon water park is scheduled to close Oct. 28 for its annual winter refurbishment.

Hotel to open

Maitland hotel-development business Liberty Lodging LLC will open another Value Place extended-stay hotel in Lakeland next week.

The 121-room hotel will open near Interstate 4 on Oct. 15. It is the fourth of 40 Value Places that Liberty Lodging plans to open in Central Florida.

Scott Powers can be reached at spowers@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5441. Christopher Boyd can be reached at cboyd@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5723.

Welcome to 'Year of a Million Dreams -- The Sequel'

Will Disney manage to surpass the glory of its '07 promotion? Stay tuned.

Scott Powers |Sentinel Staff Writer

October 1, 2007

Dream on.

Faced with an uncertain, possibly stagnating economy and a one-year-marketing campaign that provided more buzz than expected, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts are bringing the "Year of a Million Dreams" promotion back for at least one sequel year.

"We've had a really good year," said Ken Potrock senior vice president of global-alliance marketing for Disney Destinations Marketing. "The Year of a Million Dreams concept, which really takes us through calendar year 2007 for the most part, had a lot of success associated with it. The guests were happy. Our cast was happy. It drove attendance, which was a great thing."

But in adding another year, could Disney continue the momentum? Could enough fresh prizes be developed to keep people talking? Was there anything new that could be done to rival the luxury suite that Disney built inside Cinderella Castle in Magic Kingdom for one lucky family to use as a hotel room each night? High expectations could lead to disappointment.

Among the new prizes to be awarded as "dreams" to Walt Disney World visitors in 2008: a private tropical-island visit; a hot-air balloon ride over Epcot; a VIP invitation to the world premiere of the High School Musical 3 theatrical movie; a chance to throw the first pitch in a Major League Baseball spring-training game; a behind-the-scenes tour of the Walt Disney Imagineering design studios; and breakfast with dozens of costumed Walt Disney characters.

Dozens of smaller prizes -- such as free meals and special "FastPass" tickets -- will be awarded to hundreds or thousands of people during the coming year. Disney says it is spending more money overall on prizes in 2008, and there will be 70 to 80 unique prizes given away , significantly more than in 2007, said Faron Kelley, Disney's Global/Walt Disney World Project development director.

Peter Yesawich, chairman of Ypartnerhip, a Central Florida travel research-and-marketing company, called Disney's ability to create and offer such exclusive experiences "masterful."

"We do a lot of this. . . . When we do things that are not easily accessible to the majority of people, we find it clearly spikes interest," Yesawich said. "I think that's what's smart about what they have done."

Disney parks have done well during the past year, reporting rising attendance, revenue and operating profit in each of the first three quarters of the 2007 fiscal year, though the company has not revealed many details.

"2007 is looking like a very good year -- not completely over, but it is possible that we'll end up with record attendance at our domestic parks, which is no easy task given the strength of our 2006," Walt Disney Co. President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger told an investors conference at Goldman Sachs two weeks ago.

While Iger and others have praised the effect of the "Year" campaign, they also have attributed the strong year to Disney's multiple-day ticket discounts; the "Magical Express" transportation program at Orlando International Airport; and new attractions such as Finding Nemo: The Musical show, which opened last winter.

Yesawich is confident Disney's "Year of a Million Dreams" promotion helped fuel the attendance increases. But even if it didn't, the campaign has strengthened the brand's image, drawing lots of positive publicity, he said.

Not all analysts are certain the promotion was all that important to Disney's' bottom line. The company always seems to have one big, celebratory marketing promotion or another, they note, and such campaigns often last more than a year. In this decade alone, there's been the millennial 2000 Celebration, Walt Disney's 100 Years of Magic birthday celebration, Mickey Mouse's 75th anniversary, and Disneyland's Happiest Celebration on Earth 50th anniversary.

Harold Vogel, a veteran Wall Street analyst and CEO of Vogel Capital Management, said outside factors such as gasoline prices and consumer confidence also played major roles in the successes at Disney World and Southern California's Disneyland.

"I think the campaign may be a relatively small part of it," Vogel said.

As Disney extends "Years," the big question, as for any sequel, Vogel suggested, is the one Iger alluded to when he compared 2007 with 2006 at the Goldman Sachs conference. "How do you top this year?" Vogel asked.

Potrock and Kelley think it can be done.

They said they actually underestimated the potential of "Year of a Million Dreams" when it was announced last year. The program actually was rolled out as a sub-campaign; the main campaign, "Place Where Dreams Come True," featured celebrities such as Beyonce being photographed as famous characters from Disney movies, like Alice from Alice in Wonderland.

But that main campaign was nearly swamped by the "Year of a Million Dreams." The "Year" portion of it wasn't even put out in 2006 in time for the many annual guide books and other publications, which are locked up each year in the fall. This year it was.

"Understand, when we really were launching the brand advertising, the "Place Where Dreams Come True" campaign and we put the emphasis on the ad campaign. And we didn't get out loud enough, or big enough, through the sales channels as we could have done," Potrock said. "So we said, number one, could we do it again? And knowing what we know now, could we build on it?"

Kelley said that, to build on the first year, Disney has to recapture the imaginations of its patrons.

No "dream" prize captured people's imagination more than the nightly overnight stays in Cinderella Castle, inside Disney World's Magic Kingdom theme park. In fact, the version offered at Disneyland has not drawn nearly as much interest because the suite there is outside the park and in a hotel. No matter how fancy the room, it is still just a hotel room.

"There's something special about being able to stay inside the park," Kelley said.

So Disney is building a room inside Disneyland to compare with the bed chambers inside Disney World's Cinderella Castle. The "Disneyland Dream Suite" will become available in late January.

Not just any "exclusive" Disney experience will be turned into a dream, though.

The new "Dream Suite" is being built in the same building as the legendary "Club 33" -- the posh, ultra-exclusive, almost-secret, private dinner club that has been the hospitality spot for decades for movie stars, high-powered politicans, industrialists and other dignitaries visiting Disneyland.

Club 33 is also the only place within Disneyland that serves alcoholic beverages. The club's food might be made available to Dream Suite guests -- but not actual admittance to the club, nor the drinks.

Haunted Mansion “Re-Haunting“- Walt Disney World’s Haunted Mansion Gets a Spooktacular Update

Emma Martin
The American Chronicle

September 25, 2007

Every Disney Parks fan always greets news of a major Walt Disney World attraction refurbishment with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Will a faded ride get a much needed upgrade into the 21st century or will a crowd favorite become an unrecognizable imitation of itself with garish updates that ruin the Disney magic? Thankfully, there was no need to fear over the fate of the Disney Park classic, The Haunted Mansion.

Walt Disney World closed the Haunted Mansion at the height of its 2007 summer season in order to undertake its long overdue refurbishment and have the attraction re-opened before the first Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party on September 14th. As scheduled, the "Re-Haunting" of the Haunted Mansion debuted on September 13th, 2007 with many eager Magic Kingdom attendees waiting in line for the early morning park rope-drop to experience the updated attraction. They weren't disappointed. The updates made to the Haunted Mansion constitute far more than just surface improvements. The attraction has been enhanced at every level with embellishments that maintain the original theme while introducing new spooky delights.

The Haunted Mansion has been masterfully updated to showcase all of the elements that have long made it such a favorite ride among Disney park-goers. Significant enhancements have been made to the special effects, as well as the audio and lighting. All of the audio narration by the Ghost Host has been re-mastered and a new sound system has been installed in the attraction so now you can hear the Ghost Host in true stereo with multi-positional sound effects. Lighting effects have also been deftly handled so the parts of the Haunted Mansion ride that had grown dim over the years now provide the frightful visual delights they were always meant to, but without over-brightening the dark ride aspects of the attraction that make riding it so entertaining.. In addition, many mechanical and cosmetic refurbishments have been made both inside and outside the attraction. The Stretching Portrait Gallery provides a more seamless experience of its visual effect and the Doom Buggies now move silently and no longer overwhelm the audio effects.

The best enhancements of the “Re-Haunting”, however, are the new features added to the Haunted Mansion. The demented Haunted Bride and her axe, as well as the fortune-teller Madame Leota’s head floating in mid-air, have both been imported from the Disneyland Haunted Mansion, but not before adding some additional improvements to them to amplify their fright potential. Even better though is the newest feature of the Walt Disney World Haunted Mansion. Replacing the long-boring spider scene is the brand new Staircase Room. Like an Escher print brought to life, the room is full of staircases built in random directions and ghostly footprints going nowhere. The Staircase Room is a stand-out presentation and exclusive to the Orlando park.

As with everything Disney does, they’ve also created a series of souvenirs to celebrate the “Re-Haunting” of the Haunted Mansion. Among the most popular are the limited edition Disney pins that they released exclusively in the Walt Disney World Parks. They created two individual pins, one featuring Madame Leota and one featuring Mickey Mouse, and both of these have been limited to 2000 pins each. The third release is a lenticular set of four pins which features the changing portraits in the Haunted Mansion gallery. Limited to only 750 sets, the Disney Haunted Mansion Re-Haunting pins are likely to be scarce, even on Ebay.

New attractions pay off for parks, Disney's Iger says

By Andy Fixmer Bloomberg News

September 19, 2007

Walt Disney Co., the world's biggest theme-park operator, may post record attendance at its U.S. resorts this fiscal year as new attractions have lured more visitors, Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger said Tuesday.

Attendance in fiscal 2007, which ends in two weeks, may exceed the record number of tickets sold in 2006, when all Disney's parks celebrated the 50th anniversary of Disneyland, the company's first theme park, Iger told a Goldman, Sachs & Co. conference in New York.

Disney will continue to add attractions at its domestic and international resorts, Iger said. A Finding Nemo ride at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., and the Expedition Everest roller coaster at Walt Disney World in Orlando have helped boost sales at the theme-park unit. In the nine months ended June 30, theme-park revenue was up 6.2 percent to $7.84 billion.

Expedition Everest opened in April 2006 in Disney World's Animal Kingdom theme park. Mixing a roller coaster with a story about a Yeti creature and a mountain, the ride has drawn praise for pleasing teenagers and young adults without scaring away their parents or younger siblings.

"We think the trends are good in terms of bookings," Iger said of Disney's resorts. "Some people will keep the family vacation and not replace the faulty refrigerator, and that's an interesting phenomenon."

Disney, owner of about 26,000 hotel rooms nationwide, also announced Tuesday that it will expand its Grand Californian Hotel & Spa in Anaheim to increase the accommodations there by more than 30 percent.

The expansion, expected to be completed in late 2009, will add more than 200 hotel rooms and 50 vacation villas with kitchens, Disney said.

Disney is building more accommodations and shopping areas at both Disneyland and Disney World to help boost sales and profit margins at its theme-park and resort unit. The division accounted for 29 percent of Walt Disney Co.'s $34.3 billion in revenue last fiscal year.

On Wall Street, Disney shares rose $1.20, or 3.6 percent, Tuesday to close at $34.58 on the New York Stock Exchange. The Burbank, Calif.-based company's shares are up 2.3 percent so far this year.

Epcot expands 25th - Disney reconsiders its plans on how to celebrate the milestone anniversary.

Scott Powers | Sentinel Staff Writer

Backstage at Epcot, employees walk past a mural of Spaceship Earth. Disney plans a public rededication ceremony for the park Oct. 1. (JOE BURBANK, ORLANDO SENTINEL / September 14, 2007)

Pressed by fans, Walt Disney World is expanding its observance of Epcot's 25th anniversary by providing company-sponsored public events to go along with private celebrations already set for Oct.1.

Disney is now planning a public "rededication ceremony" inside Epcot that day that will echo much of the original 1982 dedication. It also will have an exhibit hall dedicated to the park's first 25 years; a special "IlluminNations" light show at the close of the day; and retro guide maps, restaurant menus and other souvenirs.

Still, the observances are far less involved than those Disney has already organized for Epcot employees -- less even than some of the private events organized by Disney fans.

Disney officials had indicated earlier this year that there would be no company-sponsored public observances of Epcot's silver anniversary. Instead, they said commemorations would focus on the theme park's employees.

Many Epcot fans used various Internet forums to criticize Disney for not planning a public marking of the Epcot milestone. The fans also used the Internet to organize private celebrations. As their private arrangements picked up steam this summer, Disney apparently reconsidered its plans.

Epcot's new vice president, Jim MacPhee, announced in June that some sort of public celebration would take place. He also disclosed that Disney would take down the wand-and-arm structure that had towered over Epcot's signature attraction, Spaceship Earth, since 1999.

Now Disney is providing details of the public observances that will be available to paying visitors to the park on Oct. 1.

MacPhee, one of Epcot's original employees from 1982, said the anniversary is still focused on employees, particularly the 300 who both opened the park and still work there. That effort began earlier this month, with various commemorative decorations, giveaways and employee recognitions.

"We've always planned to celebrate the 25th anniversary for our cast. It began to evolve very quickly as we focused on what a great milestone it is," MacPhee said. "It's great. I love the fact that people have such huge passion about what we're doing."

The resort's change of heart may be partly attributed to the emerging success of various private Epcot parties -- including "Celebration 25," which is being spearheaded by Adam Roth, a 16-year-old Dr. Phillips High School junior.

Celebration 25, which will feature Epcot history tours, get-togethers and parties Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, started as an Internet-networked get-together of Epcot fans. Initially, it was expected to draw 100 or so participants, but the latest count tops 1,100 registrants.

Another private celebration, "The Epcot Thing," sponsored by the unofficial Disney-fan Web site MagicalMountain.net, also involves various parties and get-togethers Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. And the annual Florida convention of the National Fantasy Fan Club will take place at Disney World that weekend.

Disney officials have noticed the private preparations, and have called organizers to help coordinate the official and unofficial events.

Roth does not think the private celebrations goaded Disney into creating a public Epcot celebration. But he thinks they may have inspired Disney to do more than was originally intended.

"All our efforts combined -- I think it does show we do have a presence out there of fans," he said. "I think it was a polite reminder that it does mean something to us."

Scott Powers can be reached at spowers@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5441.