Mouse Extra

Are you a Muppets fan frustrated by the lack of effort on the part of the Disney Company to revive this once proud gang of comedians?  Have you sat around wondering what Disney could possibly be thinking when they bought the Muppets only to leave them in what seems to be an endless limbo?  Well, Jim Hill Media has nearly all of your questions answered today.

The story is a fascinating one, to be sure.  But the bottom line is Disney has failed to make the Muppets work, and they need to move forward with this.  Mr. Hill fills us with speculation and rumors over what may lie ahead, but the frighteneing thing is that it may be a harder road than any of us Muppets fans may think.  Take this piece from the article about the Muppet Mobile Lab…

Mind you, reviving the Muppet franchise — returning these characters to the level of popularity that they once enjoyed back in the 1970s — may be a lot tougher than Lylle originally thought. Take — for example — what happened back in late February / early March, when WDI’s new “Muppet Mobile Lab” was being play-tested at DCA.

The crowds that stood around that theme park’s Hollywood Pictures Backlot area viewing this demo were admittedly wowed by this Living Character Initiative unit. The only problem was — when these people were asked afterwards to name the two mechanical Muppets that they’d just seen — almost none of them could then remember Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and/or Beaker’s names. Or — for that matter — could actually identify these characters as Muppets.

Now how old does this make you feel?  Yes, people know Kermit, and they may not know the less popular Muppets like they once did.  We all know a good attraction is a good attraction, regardless of the popularity of the characters.  But the danger is in the influence of the suits at Disney.  Will they actually scale back using these wonderful characters because people don’t recognize them like they used to?

The other alarming part of this article, and something it does not expand on, is whether the results of this survey has had any effect on the future use of the Muppet Mobile Lab.

Perhaps the longest running rumor in Walt Disney World’s history is that of a new Star Tours attraction. Since the time of Pee Wee Herman’s movie theater fiasco, we have heard rumors that a new attraction was in development. Then with the prequel trilogy, rumors were hot and heavy that an updated movie would replace the old with a focus on the newer films. Now it seems every spring with the arrival of Star Wars weekends at Disney MGM Studios, these rumors start anew. The latest one had George Lucas spotted at the park discussing new ideas with Imagineers.

A newer film representing the prequels would be nice (especially if its 3D), but this, I feel, would be too small-scale. I think we need a Star Wars area or “land.” Universal has created a series lands based on movie tie-ins and this one is the best Disney’s got. With the continued hardcore fan base, merchandise bonanza, upcoming TV series, pending re-release of the movies in 3D, and the aforementioned weekends at the park, its a perfect choice for expansion.

First of all, I would keep the current Star Tours as is. I have always found the ride fun and would hate to lose an attraction based on the better of the two trilogies. Instead, I would add and one idea is this: you and other passengers in your vehicle are padawans in a chase through the city planet of Coruscant pitted against bounty hunters, droids, and, for the grand finale, Darth Maul. This would combine a track system, motion simulation, and 3-D technology for a great experience.

Here’s another idea: You board an individual starfighter designed like the pods of CyberSpace Mountain. These motion simulators would be linked via a computer system in one great space battle based on either trilogy. This would seem to be relatively easy in light of today’s computer power and the interplay of shared on-line fantasy/role-playing games. You would all be in the same five to ten minute battle, steering and firing in real-time with others.

Now, lets say we can expand the area even more. Lucas himself has been instrumental in the advancement of sound technology for the movie industry. You could easily convert Sounds Dangerous into an attraction based on recent tech from THX using Star Wars and/or other films using that systems, including many recent Disney films.

Disney-MGM Studios is also famous for its heavily themed eating establishments. I can’t understand why the Studios hasn’t created a Mos Eisley Cantina. CMs walking around in costumes as aliens and stormtroopers could mix with people eating bar food and cocktails with strange sounding names. Who wouldn’t want an autograph from Greedo? You could even have an audio-animatronic band playing famous tunes from the movie every half hour or so. So lets demolish the Backlot Express and create a little futuristic desert town.

Finally, Star Tours is right next door the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. With the new Indy film coming soon, rumors are out there about a possible redo here, or maybe even a ride. You could create an entire LucasArts area. Heck, the Sci-Fi Dine Theatre next door fits the theme, as well. Lucas has always been a great admirer of those cheesy flicks.

Todays installment of Building My Imagineering Resume is by Mike, contributing writer to Mouse Extra

TouringPlans.com is reporting this morning on the dates Spaceship Earth will be closing for what plans to be a massive refurbishment.  According to the website, it will be closed from at least July 9 through October 31, maybe even longer.

The end date is still fuzzy and unconfirmed. The park’s calendar for November has not been released yet. The ride may be closed for a substantial portion of November as well.

I would suspect Spaceship Earth will remain closed right up until the Thanksgiving Week, a very busy time at Walt Disney World.  Considering it will be closed for the massively busy July, it only makes sense that if they can avoid a closure of a crowd eating attraction for another busy season they would.

Earlier reports seemed to suggest this popular attraction may go through a scattered schedule of frequent closures, rather than one long closure.  But this is a long one for sure, and it includes the crowded July as well as the popular Food and Wine Festival.  TouringPlans.com is also reporting much shorter additional closures of only a couple of days in May and June.

We have even more information this morning about the new Zagat Survey of Walt Disney World we talked about yesterday.  This was a survey of thousands of Disney fanatics, and the results seem to indicate even those who go often may not fall into the “purist” category.  Check out this press release that includes some more interesting and fun to talk about lists.

Zagat seems to have broken down some of their results into categories, such as adults and children.  Let’s look first at the five most popular attractions among adults…

Adult favorites
1.  Expedition Everest
2.  Soarin’
3.  Cirque du Soleil
4.  Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
5.  Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

At the risk of repeating myself, I am stunned that not one traditional dark ride made this list, not a single one.  For everyone who waxes poetic about the glory days of Pirates and Happy Haunts, the appeal may not be as strong as we once thought.  I can hear the purists fumbling for reasons already.

Similar results came from kids…

Children favorites
1.  Wishes Spectacular
2.  Turtle Talk with Crush
3.  Buzz Lightyear’s Spin
4.  Playhouse Disney
5.  SpectroMagic Parade

This tells me two things.  First, no matter how good or bad we may think an attraction is, Pixar has appeal.  Second and most important, not a single dark ride is on this list either.  In fact, not a single ride from Fantasyland.  There’s no Dumbo, Peter Pan, or It’s a Small World.  Now I don’t think we can conclude kids don’t like the classics, but this list tells me they want to see things they are more familiar with.

Now, let’s take a look at the ten most popular restaurants…

1.  California Grill
2.  Le Cellier Steak
3.  50’s Prime Time
4.  Boma
5.  Jiko
6.  Hollywood Brown Derby
7.  Victoria & Albert’s
8.  Flying Fish Café
9.  Chefs de France
10. ‘Ohana

The top two are very predictable, and I think anyone guessing would have both of them very high.  Considering the price, I am a bit surprised the California Grill is at the top, but not overly so.  However, the rest of the list has some shocking results, as far as I am concerned.  I simply can’t believe the 50’s Prime Time is the third most popular place to eat.  The shtick annoys me to no end, and I honestly thought more people felt the same way.  Also, it absolutely stuns me that both restaurants at the Animal Kingdom Lodge would make the top five, but ‘Ohana would be all the way down at number ten.

Finally, let’s talk about the resorts.  Here is the list of the “best rooms” offered at the Walt Disney World resort.

1. Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa
2. Boardwalk Inn
3. Old Key West
4. Yacht Club
5. Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge

Remember, this is just the best rooms.  The best service is offered on a different list.  It would appear the Disney Vacation Club corners the market on offering great rooms.  All but the Yacht Club has a connection to the DVC.

So what do you think?  What would your list be?  I wonder if the thousands polled by Zagat really do represent the Disney World addicted.

For those of us in the greater New York City area, the World of Disney Store on 5th Ave in midtown Manhattan is holding a weekend event commemorating the opening of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.  It is called Pirates in the Big Apple, and it looks like it might be fun.

It begins Thursday night, May 24th at 9:30pm.  There are some activities scheduled for kids, but the main event comes at midnight when you get a seat at Manhattan’s Ziegfeld Theater for a showing of the film.  The theater is a classic “movie palace” and little piece of history in itself.  The cost for everything is $50 per person, which is only for Thursday’s movie premier event.  The rest of the weekend has some events.

Friday will be a pin trading day, including the release of a limited edition pin that folks who go to the film release on Thursday can get first crack at.  The rest of the weekend will have, among other things, Capt’ Jack Sparrow Meet n’ Greets and something called Pirates Academy.  I can only assume these are similar to what is held at the Magic Kingdom, being I doubt Johnny Depp will be there in character.  If you have kids that like this film let me just tell you how much the kids I know loved these events.

The always fun to read Scott Powers of the Orlando Sentinel has an article this morning about a new guidebook and survey.  Zagat Survey, known for their restaurant and hotel ratings, polled thousands of Disney World die-hards to come up with the most popular stuff.  And they certainly picked die-hards…

Zagat surveyed 4,841 people by computer between Nov. 16 and Dec. 3. The average participant had been to Disney World 36 times. And 58 percent possessed annual or season passes.

This is a fascinating decision.  While this type of Disney World guest is probably the most informed, I think even those of us who fit into this category will admit our opinions may be a bit jaded.  When I first read this, I was expecting some seriously traditional results.  But that’s not exactly what Zagat found.  Though respondents predictably voted the Magic Kingdom as the best park, take a look at the results from the attractions survey…

Most popular attraction: Soarin’ at Epcot, followed by Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror, both at Disney-MGM Studios.

Though not as popular as Soarin’, Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom got the highest average rating (29 points) from adults, and the Wishes Spectacular fireworks show at Magic Kingdom got the highest from children (29 points).

I admit all of these would be on my list of favorites, though I personally like Illuminations better than Wishes, but am I the only one surprised by these results?  Where is the Pirates of the Caribbean?  Where is the Haunted Mansion?  Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster does better among Disney addicts than Space Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain?  There are four attraction mentioned here.  Not one is a classic dark ride, and they are all relatively new thrill rides. 

Like I said, if I were to make a list of my favorite rides at Walt Disney World, all of these would be mentioned.  But I thought I was in the minority when it came to people who visit the Mouse as often as I do.  What this says to me is perhaps there are far fewer purists out there than one might think.