Tag Archives: Disneyland Park

E.132 Tower of Terror.

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On this last episode before Halloween, we are talking all things Tower of Terror on the Obscure Disney Podcast.

 

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, also known as Tower of Terror, is an accelerated drop tower dark ride located at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Tokyo DisneySea, Walt Disney Studios Park, and formerly located at Disney California Adventure Park. Except for the Tokyo DisneySea version, the attractions are inspired by Rod Serling‘s anthology television series, The Twilight Zone, and take place in the fictional Hollywood Tower Hotel in Hollywood, California. The Tokyo version, which features an original storyline not related to The Twilight Zone, takes place in the fictional Hotel Hightower. All three versions place riders in a seemingly ordinary hotel elevator and present the riders with a fictional backstory in which people have mysteriously disappeared from the elevator under the influence of some supernatural element many years previously.

The original version of the attraction opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in July 1994 and was the basis of the 1997 television film of the same name, several scenes of which were shot at the attraction. A decade later, Disney began plans to add similar versions of the attraction to their newest parks at the Disneyland Resort in California, Tokyo Disney Resort in Japan, and Disneyland Paris. In California and Paris, Disney sought to use the popular attraction to boost attendance at the respective resorts’ struggling new theme parks. The California and Tokyo versions of Tower of Terror opened in 2004[8] and 2006,[9] respectively, while financial problems delayed the opening of the Paris version until 2007.[10] The California version closed in January 2017.[3]

The Tower of Terror buildings are among the tallest structures found at their respective Disney resorts. At 199 feet (60.7 m), the Florida version is the second tallest attraction at the Walt Disney World Resort, with only Expedition Everest 199.5 feet (60.8 m) being taller. At the Disneyland Resort, the 199-foot (60.7 m) structure (which now houses Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout!) is the tallest building at the resort, as well as one of the tallest buildings in Anaheim.[11] At Disneyland Paris, it is the second tallest attraction.

E.127 Nightmare Before Christmas Overlay

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On this spooky special of the Obscure Disney Podcast, we are discussing The Nightmare Before Christmas, the film and it’s influence on the park, specifically the Haunted Mansion Holiday; the Halloween / Christmas overlay featured in Disneyland.

E.126 11 Scary Things at Disney

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On this episode of the Obscure Disney Podcast, take a look into our darkest fears…or at least the top 11 things that scare us about Disney parks; from people to rides, let’s talk about what makes us uncomfortable enough to avoid while at the happiest place on earth.

E.123 Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room. Obscure Disney Podcast

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Today on the Obscure Disney Podcast we are going to where the birds sing words and the flowers croon; The Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room. As an attraction it was revolutionary and we discuss the whole experience.

 

Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room is an attraction located in Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort, in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, and in Tokyo Disneyland at Tokyo Disney Resort. Opened in 1963 at the Disneyland Resort, the attraction is a pseudo-Polynesian themed musical animatronic show drawing from American tiki culture.

The attraction opened June 23, 1963, and was the first to feature Audio-Animatronics technology, a WED Enterprises patented invention The attraction was sponsored by United Airlines for its first 12 years; in 1976, sponsorship passed over to Hawaii’s Dole Food Company, which remains the sponsor to the present day. Dole also provides the unique Dole Whip soft-serve frozen dessert sold at a snack bar near the entrance.

The show was originally going to be a restaurant featuring Audio-Animatronics birds serenading guests as they dined. The “magic fountain” at the room’s center was originally planned as a coffee station (there is still a storage compartment within the base of the fountain) and the restaurant would have shared its kitchen with the now-defunct Tahitian Terrace in Adventureland and the Plaza Pavilion restaurant at the corner of Main Street, U.S.A. since all three are actually part of the same building. Since ownership of the attraction was separate from the rest of the park, a nominal admission charge of $0.75 was levied. Because computers have played a central role in the attraction since its inception, Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room was also Disneyland’s first fully air-conditioned building.

E.121 Fantasmic! Obscure Disney Podcast

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On this episode of the Obscure Disney Podcast, we are going to dazzle you with our knowledge of the nighttime spectacular; Fantasmic! We discuss our favorite parts of the show, the cost of doing each performance and even talk some spoilers about the exciting finale of the show.

 

Fantasmic! is a nighttime show at Disneyland Park at the Disneyland Resort, Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort, and Tokyo DisneySea at Tokyo Disney Resort, that features fireworks, characters, live actors, water effects, pyrotechnics, lasers, music, audio-animatronics, searchlights, decorated boat floats, and mist screen projections. The narrative structure of Fantasmic!—although varying differently in set pieces in all three versions—centers on a voyage through Mickey Mouse‘s imagination that culminates in a battle against the Disney Villains.

Fantasmic! originated at Disneyland in 1992 after Walt Disney Creative Entertainment was asked to create a nighttime spectacular involving water and fireworks to reinvigorate the space in front of the Rivers of America. The area was reworked, including terracing the walkways to accommodate viewing and modifying part of Tom Sawyer Island to allow the show’s staged live-action segments. The producers employed the resources of Walt Disney Feature Animation and Walt Disney Imagineering.

A second version, featuring new scenes, debuted at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 1998 and a third version debuted at Tokyo DisneySea in 2011, replacing BraviSEAmo!. A new, updated version of the Disneyland version of the show featuring a re-recorded soundtrack in addition to new scenes, lighting, choreography, and costumes debuted in 2017.

 

E.119 WDW Did it First

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On this episode of the Obscure Disney Podcast, we are asking, Which came first?! Today we explore the attractions that Walt Disney World introduced to the Disney fans that then spread to the rest of the parks. You might be surprised at some of the attractions that originated in Florida.

E.115 Disneylands Mark Twain Riverboat Ride Discussion

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On this episode, if the Obscure Disney Podcast, We are talking about the biggest, whitest boat at Disneyland. The Mark Twain.

Mark Twain Riverboat is an attraction, located at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California, on which passengers embark on a scenic, 12-minute journey around the Rivers of America. Originally named Mark Twain Steamboat when the park opened in 1955, the stately, 5/8-scale stern-wheeler was the first functional riverboat to be built in the United States for fifty years. Other Disney riverboat attractions now appear at Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris.