Former Imagineer and guest columnist George McGinnis (link) answers a letter from reader Tom J.:
Tom J. writes:
I am a fan of George McGinnis. I am also an industrial designer and Art Center grad. I design sets for Electronic Arts video game company, I wondered about George’s process. Did he often make small models as well as sketches?
The other thing I’m curious about is designing the future. When I was younger, Disneyland had a huge impact on me growing up, but we have hit a wall in designing the future. I am curious if George was working on a new Tomorrowland, what kind of things would he change or think about with ideas on what the future holds?
Just checked out EA’s Web site and it is impressive. The closest I ever came to game design is working with a Robert Able designer on “Designing Your Own Roller Coaster” for the preshow of the “Astuter Computer Review” for Sperry Univac back in the 80’s. That was fun and my kids loved it.
I drew aircraft and made flying models when I was a kid. So, many years later I still practice the technique of working back and forth between 2-D and small models. I am always in a hurry to solve space problems this has worked for me. And showing a model gets consensus from people quicker than talking it over a drawing.
Art Center taught us industrial sculpting and I’ve used the skill in modeling the Mark V & Mark VI monorails. On the Horizons project I modeled nearly every scene as I drew plans and then handed them off to a team of recently hired Art Center graduates to detail.
As to designing future Tomorrowlands I would prefer designing the future rather than looking back. It was a fun to look-back for a while, but Tomorrowland’s purpose is not satisfied with such architecture. Tomorrowland can still dazzle by showing what architects, designers and artists do. It needs to be a totally separate visual experience from the historical lands.
As to “what the future holds?” Well, that was the purpose of EPCOT and I think we did a pretty good job with it. Later, I developed a Jules Verne time machine show for COP/DL which covered many of the themes of Horizons. Innoventions is there now and it’s OK , but the theater can tell a story in such an unusual way, I think it should have been retained.
Nostalgia brought the static TWA rocket back to TL. I say design a rocket like there never was before and have it lift off and transform into a light show for a rock group that performs beneath it.
Bring back the Peoplemover and have several shows along the route especially designed for it. The shows would take you to cities of the world on pop-up animated billboards that would travel with the vehicle for a short distance.
Bring back the Skyway and have it rotate by guest controlling the direction of view and have good sound on board ala SM but selected by the guest. (Gotta keep them occupied to reduce spiting)
Color is all important for a successful Tomorrowland. The early Tomorrowlands were mostly white, which gave it a clean optimistic look. This was probably an influence from the White City that was the Worlds Fair in Chicago 1893. (link)
I have tired of the darker colors of Disneyland’s Look Back Tomorrowland. They don’t serve well on unsunny days in my opinion.
Our kids probably have a longer and better future than any generation before due to advances in science and technology. There are fun ways to tell the stories and Disney and WDI will continue to do it I believe
Thanks Tom for the compliment and the challenging question—got me thinking again.
George.
MousePlanet staff writer Mark Goldhaber (link) answers letters from readers:
Steve writes:
Do you know how people get selected to help open the Magic Kingdom in the morning? Is there a special request that one needs to submit?
While some people have written to Walt Disney World Guest Services with elaborate stories and been able to convince them to set up special selections to open the Magic Kingdom (or grand marshals for the parade) for somebody’s special occasion, in most cases it’s just sheer luck. I’ve heard that those doing the choosing are generally dressed nicer than other cast members. If you spot them and can be really enthusiastic and excited, it may help to draw attention to you. Unfortunately, I don’t have any better advice than that. One of our MousePlanet readers may have more information on that, or you could try posting your question to our MousePad discussion forums, as we have many forum members who are extremely knowledgeable about Walt Disney World.
Jason Turner writes:
Wonder if you could give some advice please. I am going out to Walt Disney World in Florida next year, hopefully from March 19th to April 4th, a couple of weeks before Easter. I know the weather will be fine but my big concern is how busy its going to be. I have looked at some of the school spring breaks but I cannot work out exactly when they are going to be – Help!
Is this is a good time to go? Is it a “Quiet” time as it’s before Easter, which is late next year. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Due to rolling spring breaks throughout the eastern part of the country, “peak season” at Walt Disney World runs from February 16 through April 22. The absolute busiest time will be April 9-22, the two weeks surrounding Easter Sunday. While the parks will be busy while you’re there, they won’t be as bad as it will be a week after you leave. Hope this helps.
Tim Rhodes writes:
Just curious, how do you find out about refurbishments before they are posted on Disney’s sites? We are going to Disney the end of January and see that you show the Buzz Lightyear ride closed but Disney’s site does not mention it. Any chance it opens back up before the end on January?
Hi Tim, I’ve got many sources at Walt Disney World, some of whom are privy to the refurbishment schedules before they are posted on the web site. You’ll notice, though, that the Buzz Lightyear refurbishment is now on the Disney site. I don’t know that there’s much chance that they will be finished before February 8, as they are replacing the ride vehicles with vehicles similar to those in California. It’s always possible that they’ll finish early, but I wouldn’t count on it.
Dave Geric writes:
We used Disney Magical Express service for our visit from Dec 5 through Dec 9 2005. My son is disabled and uses a wheelchair. We decided to rent a car at the airport. Disney Magical Express said one of us had to ride the bus to Disney World because we sent our luggage through Disney Magical Express. The luggage tags were sent to us through the mail and Disney retrieved our luggage from USAir and sent it to our room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, which I was satisfied with. Why wasn’t checking in with Disney at the airport sufficient to verify we were there with our luggage? I do not know why one of us had to ride the bus to the lodge? I did not use this service going back home.
That’s an interesting question. My guess is that it’s a security requirement, similar to the fact that you can’t put your luggage on a plane and then not fly with it. Something along the lines of the airport and the TSA saying “you can’t take their bags if they’re not getting on your bus.” Most likely, it’s a requirement that Disney has to live by in order to keep their ability to carry everyone else’s luggage. I can’t confirm that that’s the case, however.
Dave replies:
I don’t think it was a security issue because the luggage did not go on the bus, it went on a truck to the resort.
Actually, I’m thinking more security on the airport side. Something along the lines of “We cannot authorize you to remove someone’s bags from the airport unless you can prove that you are also transporting that person.”
Kent Brodie writes:
Like many recent Walt Disney World travelers, we got one of the new (“2.0”?) Pal Mickeys. We also made sure to get the special pin that comes with him courtesy of an online coupon.
The focus of my submission is not Pal Mickey’s operation in general – that has been covered in many places throughout MousePlanet (summary: He was fun, chatted a lot, and my wife and kids LOVED it).
The thing that intrigued me was that Pal Mickey “interacts” with the new Happiest Celebration Glow Medallions that can be found in certain Disney stores around the park. These are the plastic “thicker” pins that light up different colors when you go through different attractions. Sadly, I was not able to FIND one of those pins; all of the stores at Walt Disney World we visited were out.
However, I *did* bring along my “100 years magical moments” pin on our recent trip in November 2005. One night in our hotel, it struck me, could the 100-years pins react in the same way as the 50th celebration pins? After all, the pins are activated the same way – IR transmissions. I grabbed my wife’s Pal Mickey, turned him on, pointed him to my pin, and squeezed his hand.
Voila! What was once a kind-of-useless 100-year pin (once you leave the parks, it only does “one” LED pattern when you touch it) was now interactive again! Each time I squeezed Mickey’s hand, the pin reacted with a DIFFERENT light pattern – I assume the same as the patterns triggered by the different transmitters at the various attractions. I believe there are seven different flashing patterns in all.
So, if you have one of the new Happiest Celebration glow medallions, OR if you have one of the older 100-year celebration magical moments pins from a few years ago—go grab your Pal Mickey and light it up!
That’s really interesting, Kent! I’m sure that our readers would be very interested to hear that, especially those with the 100 YMM pins sitting around with nothing to light them up. Thanks for passing it along!
Michelle Hansford writes:
What are the dates for the MouseFest 2006? We’ve never been to a meet before and would love to attend next year. Is it too early to make reservations? When do they have the schedule out for the meets and all?
Is there a specific resort everyone stays at? What ship is the cruise on?
MouseFest 2006 will be December 3-12, with the four-night cruise on December 3-7 and the land portion running December 7-12.
The four-day cruise is on the Disney Wonder. (The Disney Magic only does 7-day cruises.) If you want to get in early with a request for a certain cabin, you can certainly make your reservation now. There are often special packages offered for MouseFest participants through various participating travel agencies in the future, but nothing is assured as of yet.
Everyone stays at the resort of their choice. There are no set resorts. The schedule for the meets starts forming up over the summer (we set our meet dates this year mid-July, and we were one of the first), and the final schedule really isn’t set until a month or so before the event. We’ll probably try to grab our slots early again next year if we can.
Everybody has lots of questions their first time. I’d recommend reading through everything on the MouseFest web site to get a better idea of how things are organized, and to keep checking it for new information.
Andrew Babb writes:
I purchased Birnbaum’s (the official guide) Walt Disney World guide for 2006, and the Wonders of Life Pavilion is mentioned with nothing about it being closed. This should bode well for the future of the pavilion.
It would seem that the Birnbaum guide would have information about what is or is not closing in the coming year, but that’s not the case. More than once, they’ve listed things that were gone within the first couple of months of publication. With their lead time, they probably went to press some time in August. Wonders of Life didn’t disappear from park maps until after Labor Day. The decision was likely made as late as November to permanently shutter the pavilion, as the indications that I’m basing my prediction on didn’t appear until then.
Tom Tepper writes:
I’ve tried to figure out what the structure which is next to Small World in Disney World which looks like an entrance to a ride which was never constructed (and which now serves as stroller parking) was originally meant for? Can you give me any tips or links? Thanks
That building on the hill was once the Fantasyland station for the Skyway ride. Guests could take one-way rides between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. (If it wasn’t crowded, they sometimes let you stay on for a round-trip.) The Tomorrowland station is to the right of Space Mountain, the building with the waterfall down its side.
My wife and I used to joke that we could shut down the Skyway simply by getting in line for it. It either broke down or was shut down for weather just about every time we tried to ride it. I think we actually got on it twice or three times in all the years we tried to get on it.
The ride was shut down in 1999, and the building has been unused since. The new stroller parking area was built in front of it, and opened September 30, 2004.
Warren Hayward writes:
Thanks for your excellent coverage of the growth of the Everest Mountain at Animal Kingdom. I’ve really enjoyed watching the creation of Disney’s newest adventure.
But now with the Annual Pass holders and Vacation Clubs previews announced I’m wondering if you’ve heard any rumours about when the ride might start preview for other resort guests not lucky enough to hold one of the privilege passes.
I’m heading for the resort between 21 Jan – 4 Feb what do you reckon the chances are of getting a sneak peek ?
Thanks for your kind words.
With the Everest opening cast members permanently assigned there as of Sunday, I would venture to guess that – barring a major problem during the DVC/AP previews – Everest will probably be open to the general public shortly afterward. I’ll be down there for a lightning trip January 27-30 to ride during the previews.
Nanabird writes:
Awesome! Everyone that gets off [Expedition Everest] is clapping and says it is fantastic! I absolutely love it and I’m a “scaredy cat” when it comes to roller coasters. I love Rock ‘N Roller Coaster at MGM and Splash Mt. but I can’t handle Mission Space. I will ride this Runaway Train Ride over and over.
I went on it twice this morning with cast members and their guests. I didn’t go on the Fast Pass line but the other line is incredible. You could walk it 100 times and not see everything. The Imagineers and the man in charge of this project outdid themselves. You actually feel like you are there. The detail is so unreal. Be sure to ring the bells. This is Disney at its best! Our little sleepy Animal Kingdom will be no more. This ride will do for Animal Kingdom what Soarin did for Epcot.
I don’t want to spoil the ride for you but just let me say you will be cold, scared silly by something, sent every which way and you’ll get off wanting to do it again. I hope a lot of MousePlanet members get to come down this next week and experience this wonderful new attraction. I just joined MousePlanet. I enjoy all the articles and you guys know so much about what is going on here. I learn more here than I do at work. I really enjoyed learning about the Disney Marathon. I did my first Disney Half-Marathon 2 weeks ago and I’m still on a high from that. Thanks for all your good work.
Thanks for your kind words about MousePlanet. Yes, I’m really looking forward to riding Everest. I’ve been trying so hard to actually keep from reading or seeing spoilers that I’m extra-excited! The preview weekend will be a lot of fun.
John writes:
My wife and I are great fans of your webpage and eagerly look forward to your Walt Disney World updates each week. We are also big fans of the Polynesian Resort. We would like to know the status of the work that is being done at the resort. Which long houses have been updated, which ones are in progress and which ones have yet to be started. I appreciate any information you can give us. Thanks, John
Thanks for your kind words about MousePlanet.
I just went over to Steve Seifert’s excellent site on the Polynesian (link: http://www.tikiman2001.net/). According to the site, here’s the current refurbishment status:
- Fiji: open with new rooms
- Hawaii: open with new rooms and lounge
- Niue: open with new rooms
- Rapa Nui: open with new rooms on the 1st and 3rd floor only. Second floor has not been started as of Jan. 2006
- Tuvalu: Floors 2 and 3 are done with new rooms. First floor has not been started as of Jan. 2006
- Aotearoa: 08 Jan. – 31 Jan. 2006 (all floors)
- Rarotonga: 01 Feb. – 19 Feb. 2006 – 3rd floor refurbishment; 20 Feb. – 09 Mar. – 2nd floor refurbishment; 09 Mar. – 27 Mar. 1st floor refurbishment
- Samoa: 03 Feb. – 28 Feb. 2006 (all floors)
- Tokelau: TBD, not scheduled as of Jan. 2006
- Tahiti: TBD, not scheduled as of Jan. 2006
