All the usual suspects made their way to the Magic Kingdom on Monday evening once word leaked that Disney Imagineers had turned on the newly added background music soundtrack to Space Mountain. Instead of adding speakers to the cars, they’ve worked after hours, when the attraction was closed, to add speakers at certain spots along the track to give riders more of a surround sound experience.
I haven’t had a chance to ride it myself, but the general feeling is that this is a good improvement. It definitely adds an element to the ride and makes the track somewhat less predictable. I’ll report back once I’ve had a chance to ride.
For more details check out this interview the Orlando Sentinel had with an Imagineer who worked on updating the attraction. The really curious can find an on-ride video at LaughingPlace.com, but of course, that contains spoilers.
If you’ve been on the ride do you think this is a good addition?
The Orlando Sentinel has a list of injuries reported by Central Florida’s theme parks for the second quarter. It’s remarkable for two things. First, all the injuries are somewhat unremarkable and second, apparently SeaWorld and Busch Gardens had no injuries.
I don’t think this agreement between the parks and the state is actually accomplishing much. We need to know the situation behind the injuries, as well as reports from hospitals and urgent care centers from patients who claim to have been injured at the parks. Just judging on the number of times I see paramedics in the park, I definitely think things are a big under reported.
That said, I believe parks are quite safe. But more knowledge gives guests more power in deciding which rides are appropriate for them.
Michael Eisner, who, you may recall, is the former CEO of the Walt Disney Company, has been drafted to run the financially troubled Tribune Company by bankers who aim to take over the company from its current leaders. Eisner, who has been active in online media companies since leaving Disney is expected to help recover as much of the bank’s investments as possible by moving the Tribune Company into new profit areas.
Among its properties, Tribune owns a TV station in Los Angeles, and papers in Orlando and Los Angeles, both big Disney territories. It is also one of the largest employee owned companies, but the organization is not really set up so that the employees actually profit or have any say in how the company is run. That’s not expected to change if Eisner takes over.
This move has been rumored for a few days, but today The Wrap declares is practically a done deal.
Okay, so you consider yourself a fan of the Haunted Mansion, perhaps even a super fan. I guarantee you, there is stuff on the “Long Forgotten” blog that you don’t know. Take for instance, this piece about how the Haunted Mansion can draw some direct inspiration from French Cabarets of the 1800s.
Read the whole blog. It really is a master course on the Haunted Mansion.
I’m loving this newly released billboard artwork for TRON: LEGACY featuring Quorra (Olivia Wilde). They actually have the full size version of this up at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Tron 2.0, Tr2n, Tron: Legacy, what ever you want to call it hits theaters December 17, 2010. Woo!
Below the jump I’ve placed a few other billboards from previous releases (click for larger size in most cases):
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