One of the many items I enjoy from MousePlanet’s staff writers is Wade Sampson’s Wayback Machine. Periodically, Wade employs this device to go back in time to take a look at something specific in the Disney history. It’s always interesting to learn something new about the decisions and innovations that helped shape the company we know and love today.
What I think would be even more fun would be the ability to look into the future; to see what the Disney Company, and its Imagineers, has in store for us in the years to come.
I’m going to borrow Wade’s machine for today’s column but we’re going to tweak it just a bit. I’m reversing the flux capacitor to turn it from a Wayback to a Wayforward machine—or maybe just a “little bit forward” machine. That will allow us to jump forward in time and peek at some Disney news from the future. We’ll set the machine for some random future dates and see where it takes us. Ready?
December 1, 2014 – In time for the Holiday shopping season, Walt Disney Productions has announced availability of their latest direct-to-video release, Little Mermaid XXIII – Menopause Under the Sea. The video will be available in standard DVD format, Blu-Ray or Blu-Ray-3D. Priced at $99.95, it’s sure to disappear from shelves quickly so order yours today.
Ariel – Before the ravages of time. Photo by Steve Russo.
October 2, 2010 – With a nod to the improving economic situation, Walt Disney World spokesperson, Shifty LeGrew, announced a restructuring of the resorts pricing calendar. Stating that “many guests found the existing breakdown of pricing seasons to be confusing”, Mr. LeGrew said Disney was “simplifying things” with the new calendar. Effective immediately, the three seasons in force are:
- Holiday Season – December 24 to January 2
- Peak Season – January 3 to September 6 and September 8 to December 23
- Value Season – September 7
January 11, 2016 – The Walt Disney Company announced today an extension of their agreement with Orlando International Airport to continue providing free shuttle service for their guests between the airport and Disney World resorts. The new service, dubbed Disney’s Fantastical Express (DFE), will whisk guests via a vacuum tube from the DFE facility in terminal B to any resort on Walt Disney World property. Guests will check in at the DFE counter where cast members will affix a washable bar code to their foreheads. When they enter the DFE tube loader, their foreheads are scanned and Disney’s Hyper-Suction ™ technology will transport them to their selected hotel lobby in just under 45-seconds. In a related story, Universal Studios Florida indicated they were abandoning their experimental human catapult, dubbed the “Guest-apult”, due to increased customer complaints.
June 6, 2011 – Disney has a long history of creating theme park attractions from some of its more successful films. From Peter Pan’s Flight to Toy Story Mania, many of its more popular attractions originated with a feature film. In 2009, that scheme was modified slightly to introduce an interactive attraction based on a television show, the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure. This year, Disney is taking the interactive attraction to a new level with the Wall-E Sanitation Management Adventure at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Guests will be issued a circular, galvanized steel Wall-E-ceptacle and be assigned a specific area of the park for their adventure. They’ll then “interact” with that area by picking up any “space debris” and depositing it in their Wall-E-ceptacle. The Adventure ends when the Wall-E-ceptacle is full and the guest returns it to a central “Wall-E-ceptacle Collection Station”. The average adventure will take between 30-minutes and eight hours.
Your adventure awaits. Photo by Steve Russo.
December 18, 2012 – As the worldwide recession deepens, Walt Disney World has announced several new programs designed to increase revenue in these troubled times. The first is called Adopt an Imagineer. For an annual membership fee of $799.95, any Florida resident family can adopt an Imagineer. Your Imagineer will move in with you and stay from Monday through Friday each week. Imagine the fun at dinner each evening as he or she offers highlights of current work assignments—provided, of course, that there are no confidentiality issues. For an additional $59.95 weekly you can “help with the homework”, reviewing drawings and schematics from some of Disney World’s future attractions.
June 5, 2017 – Walt Disney World has announced that today will be the grand opening of the new transportation service that connects the Magic Kingdom, the Transportation and Ticket Center and Epcot. The Walt Disney World Transporter Express uses state-of-the-art magnetic levitation (maglev) technology to whisk passengers along an elevated beam. This new technology replaces the archaic monorail system that once took guests from the TTC to Epcot in approximately nine minutes. That trip now takes only seven seconds. Disney spokesperson Buzz Faraday indicated that the problems experienced during the soft opening have been resolved with the addition of industrial strength shoulder harnesses and Gastrointestinal Collection Devices (GCDs), commonly referred to a “barf bags”.
July 17, 2017 – The Walt Disney Company revealed today what many had suspected for decades. The several elderly people seemingly fast asleep on sofas and chairs in the lobby of the Grand Floridian are indeed audio animatronics. Disney management claimed they added the dozing seniors for mood and ambience and just didn’t have the heart to relocate them.
It’s hard to tell which are real, isn’t it? Photo by Steve Russo.
September 17, 2012 – Southwest Airlines (SWA) has announced that, beginning on October 1, the popular airline’s boarding procedures will change slightly. As they do currently, passengers will continue securing A, B, and C Boarding passes based upon how early they check in, either in person at the airport or via Southwest’s Web site. With the new process, called the Southwest Dash-25 Boarding process, each group will be required to line up behind a boarding line placed 25 meters from the jet way door, with the ‘A’ group in front. Upon firing a simulated starter’s pistol, the passengers will race to the door and board in the order in which they arrive. Pre-boarding service will continue to be offered for families with young children or those needing assistance.
October 6, 2016 – Enrollment in the Walt Disney World Marathon has now surpassed the 4,000,000 mark for the first time. The number of runners has steadily increased and Disney has had to come up with some truly innovative ways to allow such a large number of runners to navigate a relatively narrow course. In past years, it was not uncommon for the winners to cross the finish line while several hundred runners hadn’t yet started. This year, due to the large numbers, runners will be allowed to complete the course by running at home, on a treadmill, connected to Race Central via a WII controller. Those choosing to run remotely will be sent a Blu-Ray disc simulating the Disney World course and will be given a 10% discount off the early enrollment fee of $4,500.
May 9, 2011 – In a major announcement, the Walt Disney Company has revealed new corporate sponsorship agreements with several large international corporations. Disney Chairman and CEO, Jeffrey Katzenberg, announced the renaming of several Magic Kingdom attractions. The new names: Oracle’s Haunted Mansion; the Exxon Mobil Speedway; Bank of America’s Space Mountain; Campbell’s Space Ranger Spin; the Kraft Nabisco Jungle Cruise; and the Metamucil Carousel of Progress. In a related announcement, Mr. Katzenburg announced plans to convert Cinderella’s Castle into deluxe condominiums. Each condominium will be approximately 1,400 square feet and be themed consistent with the castle’s current motif. Prices begin at $1,750,000.
Open house, this Sunday. Photo by Steve Russo.
June 5, 2010 – Walt Disney World announced a modification to its popular Magic Your Way Dining Program. To go along with the existing Quick Service Plan, Basic Plan, Deluxe Plan and Platinum Plan, Disney has announced the Magic Your Way Grand Titanium Plan. Each day, you and your party will receive three table service meals (appetizer, entrée and dessert), six snacks, a chocolate layer cake and a complimentary sundae from either Beaches & Cream (at the Beach Club resort) or the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor in the Magic Kingdom. The Grand Titanium Plan also offers a bottle of wine with breakfast, lunch and dinner. The plan is available as part of a Magic Your Way package or may be purchased a la carte for $299.95 per person per day. In a related move, Disney stated they have increased the number of electronic defibrillators on site by 500%.
December 2, 2010 – Walt Disney World today announced the temporary closing of one of its more popular attractions, the Pirates of the Caribbean. The attraction features boats slowly moving through a number of scenes depicting pirates attacking and pillaging a small port town. Unfortunately, recent months have seen increased occurrences of the guest boats bottoming out and becoming stuck mid-ride. A Disney spokesperson said there was no connection between these mishaps and the decision to offer a free Grand Titanium Dining Plan with the Magic Your Way packages beginning in August of this year. The ride will be closed while Disney Imagineering investigates widening the boats and deepening the existing waterway.
August 1, 2012 – In a move many analysts believe is an attempt to pump up sagging attendance at their Animal Kingdom theme park, Walt Disney World today announced a re-imagineering of its ride-through animal encounter, Kilimanjaro Safaris. In an attempt to pump some life into the ride, Disney announced a merger of technologies in the new attraction, named Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Safari. The Safari’s existing ride vehicles have been retrofitted to include the laser cannons that once appeared on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. During their safari, guests can now aim their cannons at targets affixed to the more than 600 wildlife creatures that roam the African savanna. Hitting the target on an elephant or white rhino will only get you a few points but zapping a cheetah or the quick footed Thompson’s gazelles (they’re called “Tommies”, no one calls them Thompson’s gazelles), will give a huge boost to your score and put you on your way to becoming a Galactic Great White Hunter.
They’re only 5 point each. Photo by Steve Russo.
August 2, 2012 – Disney has announced that popular Imagineer and contributing designer to much of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Joe Rhode, has resigned.
There’s a quick, and random, look forward at some of what’s in store for us at our Happiest Place on Earth. Make sure you save this article to see just how right I was—or wasn’t. In any case, it’s fun to speculate, isn’t it?
That’s my opinion. What’s yours?
