On September 25th at the 4:50 pm show of Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular at California Adventure there was a frightening malfunction of the flying carpet effect during the show. Thankfully, redundant safety systems prevented any real injury, but the show was stopped and the audience evacuated while performers on the flying carpet swung upside down above the audience.
This video shows the moments after the carpet flipped over. Both performers can be seen strapped into the carpet, but the Jasmine performer is obviously (and understandably) upset. So don’t watch the video if that bothers you:
Here’s another angle that shows the carpet actually flipping over:
Well, at least it wasn’t anything violent.
I wasn’t going to post about this incident, chalking it up to a freak accident, but it turns out this is not the only time the flying carpet effect has had problems. Spoilers and more details below:
A big thanks to the fine folks at Walt Disney Imagineering for making this latest video that goes behind the scenes on the creation of the Dumbo the Flying Elephant icon for the Disney Fantasy for Disney Cruise Lines. In the video Imagineers Joe Lanzisero,… Read More »Behind The Scenes: Designing Dumbo for Disney Fantasy with Imagineering
The Disney Cruise Line has a very cute and popular tradition of adorning the stern of each ship with a different character, usually doing something whimsical. The Disney Magic has Goofy cleaning the ship, The Disney Wonder has Donald being ‘helped’ by his nephews, and Sorcerer Mickey is making brooms do the work on the Disney Dream. What do all 3 of those ships have in common? The main characters are part of the Fab five. So the Disney Fantasy will follow in that tradition, right?
Wrong.
The stern character for the Disney Fantasy take a bit of a departure and will feature Dumbo flying under his own power putting the finishing touches on the ship with the help of Timothy Mouse. Here’s some concept art:
The Disney Fantasy just passed a milestone with the final piece of its hull being attached, so expect to see many more details about the ship between now and its launch around March 2012.
In fact, we have two photos of the flying elephant himself below the jump:
As Disney Cruise Lines is the owner of it’s own island in the Bahamas, it’s great to see how they are working on integrating some Environmentality into that community. More than 150 Bahamian children recently participated in a summer camp sponsored in part by Disney… Read More »Disney Cruise Line Sponsors Environmental Summer Camp in Bahamas
The Disney Fantasy may not be an exact duplicate of the Disney Dream, but it’s very close. Construction started on the Fantasy while construction on The Dream was still under way. So it may seem like work has been proceeding fast, but really, it is right on target for its March 2012 debut cruise.
This weekend the final building block for the Disney Fantasy, was placed at the Meyer Werft shipyard signaling completion of a major milestone in the ship’s overall construction. The final block placed was a 265-ton portion of the ship’s bow, complete with the signature Disney Cruise Line golden filigree.
Like its sister ship, the Disney Fantasy will bring to life many of the innovative features guests love including AquaDuck — the world’s first shipboard water coaster. But new design elements and guest experiences will give the Fantasy an identity all its own.
Some of the new highlights found on the Disney Fantasy include:
Europa – a nighttime entertainment district exclusively for guests 18 and older that features sophisticated bars and trendy lounges inspired by the very best in European travel.
A new, innovative show for the Animator’s Palate restaurant where diners will serve as guest animators. During the “Animation Magic” show guests are asked to hand-draw a character of their own at the start of dinner. After an entertaining show featuring montages from Disney animated films and shorts, guests prepare for a whimsical finale moment where the guest-drawn characters spring to life and interact with characters from beloved Disney animated classics.
At Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique on the Disney Fantasy, aspiring young princesses and pirates receive the full fairy tale treatment with pixie-dusted and piratical makeovers at this very special salon.
“Disney’s Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular” will take the stage on the Disney Fantasy. During this Broadway-style production, guests laugh along with the wise-cracking Genie and the cast from the classic animated Disney film, “Aladdin.”
Video of them moving the final piece into place below the jump:
There was news this week that Disney’s 3rd ship in its cruise line fleet, the Disney Dream, has been sailing to near sellouts since its launch in January with an average of 3,800 passengers a sailing on a ship capable of holding 4,000. That’s good… Read More »What Disney got Right, and Wrong, with the Disney Dream
As the Disney Wonder enjoys its first tours of Alaska, guests are reporting back that the views are spectacular. However, since it can get cold and rainy the usual sunbathing activity is a bit diminished. To compensate for the ship’s busier interior, Disney is holding… Read More »Mickey and Minnie dressed up for Alaskan Weather aboard Disney Wonder
March 2012 is closer than you think. That’s the grand debut for the Disney Fantasy, the fourth ship in tbe Disney Cruise Line fleet. Disney just released a wonderful time lapse video showing the Fantasy’s construction. It’s pretty far along at this point, which makes… Read More »Disney Cruise Line Fantasy Ship – Time Lapse Construction Video
