full disclosure, I live in Orlando and have been to Universal and Disney parks dozens of times each, as well as their California counterparts
SPOILERS for some newer Disney park rides and this documentary.
Ok so since 2013 Disney has been interviewing and recounting the entire history of their theme parks up to the release of their newest ride, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. I don't like documentaries too often so I haven't watched any this year that I can recall but this was broken in 6 eras, 1 hour max each and my boyfriend is a documentary fiend. So off we go starting when Disney+ launched last month.
Well tonight the final part was released and I caught ourselves saying "wow" at the last part several times. They are an ambitious team.
The early parts of the documentary start with the creation of Disneyland, the original premium theme park that set off the whole endeavor. They talked about the emotional importance to the team and more.
Then came Florida, a bigger vision. The Magic Kingdom began the Disney World Resort. Then Walt wanted to make not just a closed safe and happy space for people, but a place to live that out - EPCOT. But he passed away early in the Florida projects and after a while of uncertainty about their direction, they determined that Disney as a company was not going to be able to direct people's daily lives. The park EPCOT was born - a celebration of human cultures that aren't on the screen, Disney partnered with and employed thousands of people from around the world to bring their icons and products and cuisine to a lake on the edge of futuristic technologies inspired by real world advancement. It is a success that later inspires the fantasy of DisneySea in Japan.
They move onward around the world, fumbling with an expensive park in Europe. It's too American and expensive for its size and Disney changes dramatically how much they're willing to loosen the grip on their park expertise in the future for other countries.
Disney goes on to build more parks in Orlando and Asia. One more in California.
Things get interesting to me in the early 2000s. Pixar has announced their partnership with Disney is coming to an end. Bob Iger believes this was the wrong move to allow the teamwork to dissolve - he courts Pixar owner Steve Jobs of Apple, and Pixar joins Disney for good (with Jobs becoming the largest single shareholder in Disney at the time)- their first feature Toy Story was alongside Disney, and decades later the characters are Disney's A-List. Iger helps give California Adventure a do-over. Cars Land becomes a hit, Soarin' introduces new theatrical combinations never seen before, and it becomes a better companion to Disneyland.
In 2009, Bob Iger and Disney decide they see a future for Marvel in their universe. Iron Man had been a hit in 2008 and Marvel wanted to go bigger, so For $4 Billion, Marvel was now a Disney label. Oddly, Universal had bought Marvel Comics rights in theme parks on the US East Coast in the 90s, so Disney is not the home of Spider-Man and the Avengers in Orlando, but everywhere else, the Marvel presence is growing. Guardians of the Galaxy is now present in California Adventure.
Two years later, after decades of George Lucas' Star Wars and Indiana Jones IP being a hit in the Disney parks and while the films of those properties had been quiet for several years, Disney made the partnership permanent.
So to me, the fun is in three big projects. Shanghai Disneyland, Star Wars Galaxy's Edge, and Pandora: The World of Avatar.
Let's start with Shanghai Disneyland (the opening of which Bob Iger says is possibly the highest point of his tenure so far), which is actually the only thing I know enough about to know they left out the problems of it. The project took 10 years of on and off discussions with China to get permission. Then, they broke ground with a $3.7 Billion budget - the project finished costing $5.5 Billion. The film doesn't explain why, but to my knowledge there were disasters from worker shortages, contruction delays, merchandise, and more. In the end however, two stunning things were built: a technological marvel spinoff of Pirates of the Caribbean, and TRON.
Pirates in Shanghai is not the ride from the other parks. This one is a battle. You go out to sea in an IMAX walled room sailing between two massive battling pirate ships, and your boat goes off the rails and is controlled by powerful magnets as it floats freely. It looks incredible and immersive and blew my mind.
The other thing they have in Shanghai that is incredible is their TRON rollercoaster. Boasting a unique motorcycle style seat for each rider that looks and glows like authentic Lightcycles, the ride uses what they call dynamic architecture. The ride goes indoors and outdoors, and the buildings lighting and resulting appearance reacts to the position of the passing riders. It's gorgeous. This one is coming soon to Orlando, so I'm excited to try it next year.
Let's talk Pandora. This was originally licensed and built on a partnership with Fox, entirely before Fox was acquired by Disney. One of their most elusive projects, this seemed to give the Imagineers pause. The movie was several years old by the time of the licensing going through, the main characters were impossible to make human cast members costume up as, and the world was massively populated with floating rock elements and trees.
Having already visited this area, I'll say it's pretty neat. The illusion of gravity defying rocks is well done, and the bioluminescent plants distinguish the scenery from typical other nature theme park zones. The new Animatronic Na'vi is incredibly fluid and expressive. The Flight of Passage is gorgeous and immersive as far as pure simulators go.
The massive and most exciting expansion to me is Star Wars Galaxy's Edge. Rumored to have been viewed by the Imagineers as their challenge to respond to the incredibly detailed Harry Potter zones in Universal parks, they spent big. They created one of the most intensive real time graphics projects ever in the 120fps Smuggler's Run aboard a virtual Milennium Falcon. But the big target was the tangible, super long, super inventive Rise of the Resistance. While most theme park rides tend to be about 4 minutes, and max out around 8 - this one aims for about 15 minutes of major set pieces and media to ride through. New techniques simulate blasters firing holes in walls, lightsabers cutting through metal, massive turrets firing into space above you, and new animatronic enhancements. I have yet to try it (the waits are kind of off putting often over 2 hours by some reports), but the tech looks amazing. You are in a free moving vehicle, that drives into a gyro platform, that then can drop for free fall sensations. It looks amazing.
And lastly, the future of Imagineering. I knew they'd patented some free moving untethered animatronics that can move around a room. I did not know about this robot:
There's some stunning footage of its movements at the end of the documentary.
So I highly recommend if you have Disney+ or the trial, give this a try. It's an amazing look at the tech and the emotion behind one of the most famous creative teams in the world.
A final note of minor relevance... Disney is not exempt from typical corporate failures to uphold integrity in how they treat their employees. I encourage you to read about the company as it is today. It may be important to you.
SPOILERS for some newer Disney park rides and this documentary.
Ok so since 2013 Disney has been interviewing and recounting the entire history of their theme parks up to the release of their newest ride, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. I don't like documentaries too often so I haven't watched any this year that I can recall but this was broken in 6 eras, 1 hour max each and my boyfriend is a documentary fiend. So off we go starting when Disney+ launched last month.
Well tonight the final part was released and I caught ourselves saying "wow" at the last part several times. They are an ambitious team.
The early parts of the documentary start with the creation of Disneyland, the original premium theme park that set off the whole endeavor. They talked about the emotional importance to the team and more.
Then came Florida, a bigger vision. The Magic Kingdom began the Disney World Resort. Then Walt wanted to make not just a closed safe and happy space for people, but a place to live that out - EPCOT. But he passed away early in the Florida projects and after a while of uncertainty about their direction, they determined that Disney as a company was not going to be able to direct people's daily lives. The park EPCOT was born - a celebration of human cultures that aren't on the screen, Disney partnered with and employed thousands of people from around the world to bring their icons and products and cuisine to a lake on the edge of futuristic technologies inspired by real world advancement. It is a success that later inspires the fantasy of DisneySea in Japan.
They move onward around the world, fumbling with an expensive park in Europe. It's too American and expensive for its size and Disney changes dramatically how much they're willing to loosen the grip on their park expertise in the future for other countries.
Disney goes on to build more parks in Orlando and Asia. One more in California.
Things get interesting to me in the early 2000s. Pixar has announced their partnership with Disney is coming to an end. Bob Iger believes this was the wrong move to allow the teamwork to dissolve - he courts Pixar owner Steve Jobs of Apple, and Pixar joins Disney for good (with Jobs becoming the largest single shareholder in Disney at the time)- their first feature Toy Story was alongside Disney, and decades later the characters are Disney's A-List. Iger helps give California Adventure a do-over. Cars Land becomes a hit, Soarin' introduces new theatrical combinations never seen before, and it becomes a better companion to Disneyland.
In 2009, Bob Iger and Disney decide they see a future for Marvel in their universe. Iron Man had been a hit in 2008 and Marvel wanted to go bigger, so For $4 Billion, Marvel was now a Disney label. Oddly, Universal had bought Marvel Comics rights in theme parks on the US East Coast in the 90s, so Disney is not the home of Spider-Man and the Avengers in Orlando, but everywhere else, the Marvel presence is growing. Guardians of the Galaxy is now present in California Adventure.
Two years later, after decades of George Lucas' Star Wars and Indiana Jones IP being a hit in the Disney parks and while the films of those properties had been quiet for several years, Disney made the partnership permanent.
So to me, the fun is in three big projects. Shanghai Disneyland, Star Wars Galaxy's Edge, and Pandora: The World of Avatar.
Let's start with Shanghai Disneyland (the opening of which Bob Iger says is possibly the highest point of his tenure so far), which is actually the only thing I know enough about to know they left out the problems of it. The project took 10 years of on and off discussions with China to get permission. Then, they broke ground with a $3.7 Billion budget - the project finished costing $5.5 Billion. The film doesn't explain why, but to my knowledge there were disasters from worker shortages, contruction delays, merchandise, and more. In the end however, two stunning things were built: a technological marvel spinoff of Pirates of the Caribbean, and TRON.
Pirates in Shanghai is not the ride from the other parks. This one is a battle. You go out to sea in an IMAX walled room sailing between two massive battling pirate ships, and your boat goes off the rails and is controlled by powerful magnets as it floats freely. It looks incredible and immersive and blew my mind.
The other thing they have in Shanghai that is incredible is their TRON rollercoaster. Boasting a unique motorcycle style seat for each rider that looks and glows like authentic Lightcycles, the ride uses what they call dynamic architecture. The ride goes indoors and outdoors, and the buildings lighting and resulting appearance reacts to the position of the passing riders. It's gorgeous. This one is coming soon to Orlando, so I'm excited to try it next year.
Let's talk Pandora. This was originally licensed and built on a partnership with Fox, entirely before Fox was acquired by Disney. One of their most elusive projects, this seemed to give the Imagineers pause. The movie was several years old by the time of the licensing going through, the main characters were impossible to make human cast members costume up as, and the world was massively populated with floating rock elements and trees.
Having already visited this area, I'll say it's pretty neat. The illusion of gravity defying rocks is well done, and the bioluminescent plants distinguish the scenery from typical other nature theme park zones. The new Animatronic Na'vi is incredibly fluid and expressive. The Flight of Passage is gorgeous and immersive as far as pure simulators go.
The massive and most exciting expansion to me is Star Wars Galaxy's Edge. Rumored to have been viewed by the Imagineers as their challenge to respond to the incredibly detailed Harry Potter zones in Universal parks, they spent big. They created one of the most intensive real time graphics projects ever in the 120fps Smuggler's Run aboard a virtual Milennium Falcon. But the big target was the tangible, super long, super inventive Rise of the Resistance. While most theme park rides tend to be about 4 minutes, and max out around 8 - this one aims for about 15 minutes of major set pieces and media to ride through. New techniques simulate blasters firing holes in walls, lightsabers cutting through metal, massive turrets firing into space above you, and new animatronic enhancements. I have yet to try it (the waits are kind of off putting often over 2 hours by some reports), but the tech looks amazing. You are in a free moving vehicle, that drives into a gyro platform, that then can drop for free fall sensations. It looks amazing.
And lastly, the future of Imagineering. I knew they'd patented some free moving untethered animatronics that can move around a room. I did not know about this robot:
There's some stunning footage of its movements at the end of the documentary.
So I highly recommend if you have Disney+ or the trial, give this a try. It's an amazing look at the tech and the emotion behind one of the most famous creative teams in the world.
A final note of minor relevance... Disney is not exempt from typical corporate failures to uphold integrity in how they treat their employees. I encourage you to read about the company as it is today. It may be important to you.
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