Mickey and the (Hopefully) Magical Map

Mickey and the Magical Map Artwork
A Disney Image

The old Fantasyland Theater is still currently being rebuilt but should be ready soon for Mickey and the Magical Map, the new Disneyland 25 minute summer stage show (probably begins in June) featuring everyone's favorite Mouse and a host of Disney characters. Sounds like a winner that will be sure to pack them in because.....well....it's Mickey Mouse, a character that is probably underutilized in a park he supposedly co-founded.

But with the Disneyland Traveler there seems to be always a ...... but. I'm just not a huge fan of staged Disney shows in the park. Oh, they certainly add to the overall atmosphere of the park and are crowd pleasers especially for kids. My question has more to do with their long term staying power. I'm sure I will see Mickey and the Magical Lamp somewhere along the line, but is it something I wouldn't mind seeing again and again? That's the difference between shows and attractions. A good Disney ride well themed is something that becomes repeatable with every trip, shows are more problematic.

I never saw a show in the Fantasyland Theater even when they had them (before the space was wasted for the Princess meet and greet). Just had no interest. I saw the little Aladdin show they did in the Oasis once but that was it. I've see the show at Playhouse Disney in DCA twice, the second time I fell asleep (for us non-kids, the benches that line and back and side walls are most welcomed). The big Aladdin stage show at the Hyperion Theater in DCA is different. With a huge cast and a length of more than 50 minutes, its impact is for more dramatic though even that show has lost some of its oomph when the flying carpet scene was removed over safety issues. And you can't regard something like Fantasmic as a staged show given all the elements that are put into use beyond the characters. After seeing Mickey and Magical Map once, I fear it will become a waste of precious park time, and something I will not go back to (though admittedly, I could be wrong). Of course, Disney could rotate new shows through the theater but that is something they tend not to do since the development costs are expensive. 

Since the Fantasyland Theater is a large cavernous space, my hope would have been for a ride attraction to be put in there, maybe move a new and improved Pooh ride in the spot more along the lines of the impressive Pooh ride that is in Tokyo Disneyland (you can check it out on YouTube). The space freed up where the old Pooh ride was could have been put to better use (and no, not the return of the Country Bear Jamboree). This is pie in the blue sky stuff. Rides are very, very, expensive to develop and construct. A staged show is easier and cheaper in the long run.

This is all personal opinion of course, there won't be an empty seat in the house for Mickey and the Magical Map through the summer (another problem). Long waits for a character stage show? I'm not so sure. Shows come and go. Well themed rides last through generations. Does anyone pay admission to Disneyland where seeing a show is tops on your list of things to do? Not likely. People will always love attractions that move. I can sit at home and watch Disney on TV. 

More Disney Parks Coffee Wars - Starbucks A Winner, Nescafe Out

Last year at this time, I think a spent a lot of time writing about the anticipation of DCA's Cars Land and Buena Vista St. along with the refurbishment and return of the might Matterhorn in Disneyland. Big time stuff. This year, I seem to be writing a lot about Disney's parks pursuit at serving a decent cup of coffee. As already noted, the Starbucks station in the Fiddler, Fifer, and Practical Cafe (still a really dumb name) in Disney California Adventure's Buena Vista St. is a huge hit and a winner for both Disney and Starbucks. The Starbucks station will soon be placed inside the Market House on Main St. Disneyland, a touchy subject for sure since the Market House has a great deal of historical significance to the park. Starbucks also is now in the process of being placed in WDW Magic Kingdom and Epcot parks as well.

With Starbucks, the coffee gods were looking down fondly on Disney parks but Disney wasn't through. For years, the coffee vendor for Disney parks was Nescafe, a name synonymous with lousy coffee and pretty much thought of as an instant coffee concoction. This past week, Disney has given the boot to Nescafe out of their parks to be replaced by something called Joffrey's Coffee and Tea. I know nothing about the Joffrey product but one can only guess that it will be an improvement over the Nescafe offerings which were / are continually maligned and for good reason.

The Joffrey coffee deal in no way impacts what Disney is doing with Starbucks. The Starbucks locations will continue to move into each Disney park (one per park one would assume). Joffrey coffee is what gets served everywhere else - coffee stands, restaurants, hotel rooms, etc. around the resorts. I haven't heard one bad remark about replacing park the current park coffee with something new and when does anything Disney does get greeted with unanimous approval? When I'm looking for a decent coffee or coffee beverage and do not want to stand in line with the mob waiting to get a Starbucks, its nice to know there should be a better alternative. Then again, other than first thing in the morning, I don't think about coffee very much when I'm in the parks. When the weather is eighty degrees, give or take, most of the year, its hard really hard to give that steaming hot cup of joe a lot of thought.

Disney Earnings, Al Lutz, Truth & Rumors.

On Tuesday of this week, MiceAge / MiceChat's Al Lutz posted one of his Disney insider articles to his website (link). Later in the day, Disney's Bob Iger and Jay Rasulo gave their quarterly earnings report for the company. The two events are not unrelated colliding in a Disney world of truth, rumor, and speculation.

As a company, Disney saw revenue decrease in two major areas. Disney's biggest money maker is always ESPN and their other cable channels. Revenue was down sharply in this area as ESPN had to shell out big money for continued football and basketball coverage. Disney recoups this expense when commercial air time is sold for the sports telecasts. Eventually, Disney and ESPN will get its money back and expect to turn a profit. No big deal here.

Once again, the film and home entertainment divisions were down as Disney struggles to keep this important side of the company (its where the company originated) on an even keel. After the massive success of The Avengers over the summer, the rest of the year proved pretty quiet. Brave did nice business at the box office but its release to home video was not very receptive. It looks like the days of collecting Pixar movies for the home just for the sake of having all of them may be over. And then there was Frankenweenie which failed both in theaters and home video (though critics did like the movie very much). Wreck-It-Ralph was another box office success but not really an overwhelming one. It's release to video is coming soon. On tap is Disney's Oz the Great and Powerful that will be released next month. Will this big budget live action CGI driven production reverse the tide? I'm betting no. It looks too far out there for conventional audiences. Stand-by Iron Man flying into town in May.

Speaking of Iron Man, Al is reporting that the massive Iron Man ride that was to go into Disneyland's Tomorrowland has been put on hold. The thinking is that instead of piecemeal attractions being added one at a time, Disney may be better served in the long run and do a complete Tomorrowland makeover. The piecemeal approach for WDW's Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland expansion has not drawn in guests as expected. On the other hand, Disney rolling out a complete Cars Land was a massive success. It seems to me the thinking is off here, the Fantasyland expansion in WDW failed to generate expected business because only one new ride was opened and that was the gentle Little Mermaid ride, a clone of the existing ride in DCA. The double spinning Dumbo and rethemed Barnstormer do not count. The rest of the Fantasyland expansion consisted of a new restaurant (needed), more stores (ugh!), and meet and greets (double-ugh!). Now the level of detail is nothing short of amazing but people want something to do, not something to look at. Disney probably could have seen a better jump in the numbers if the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train opened first and the other stuff came later. Rides generate guests through the turnstiles, the better the ride, the more people walk through. A single Iron Man ride in Tomorrowland would work if the anticipated result is an uptick in the number of guests coming into the park. But you can't completely disagree that a total Tomorrowland makeover might be a better business decision long term. It would be smashing.

So if there is nothing new and impactful to report for either U.S. theme park what is Disney going to announce at this year's D23 Expo? Park news is big. If there is no big park news, then the Expo could fall kind of flat (which it may anyway). PS. No one cares about Avatar Land which may be dying on the vine.

One thing that Bob Iger did say is he still believes there is room for price increasing in the parks. Ouch. Come May or June, expect to pay more. It just better not be up the levels of last year's massive price increase or the revolt is on the the "price elasticity", as Iger calls it, may spring back the other way as people find other ways to spend their entertainment dollar outside of Disney.

There may be an announcement of a new ship being being built for the Disney Cruise Line. Since Mrs. DisneylandTraveler won't go near one, in this household, Disney boats are a non-issue. Apparently they do a nice business.

One last thing that Al mentioned was a confirmation of my belief that while Disneyland forums and websites spoke glowingly of the Salute to the Golden Horseshoe Revue, the average Joe who takes his family to Disneyland every couple of years for vacation was not all thrilled with the show complete with can-can dancers showing off their under garments and a vixen hostess trying to pick up husbands in the audience. Complaints were filed for what was deemed by many as an inappropriate family show. Not to mention, the restaurant business fell flat on its face. Billy Hill - you and your brothers are needed to bring this back the way it should be.

And you when you talk about Disney earnings reports, what Al writes, and what I think or speculate, underneath it all, it's all about the money. Something is missing here. Disney needs to get it back.

The Other Side of the Mouse - Disney Dose

Think a day at Disneyland is all smiles and laughter? Think again. This is the other side of the mouse - the frustration, the anxiety, the irritability that also flares up from time to time. Read about in in my latest contribution to the Disney Dose Website along with a lot more Disney related articles.

Direct link to the Disney Dose posting

Bad Day At Disneyland - The Other Side Of The Mouse

The New Home For Disney Prince$$e$

Model for Disney's Fantasy Faire Village
A Disney Photo

March 12 has been set for the opening date of Disneyland's Fantasy Faire Village which is now nearing completion of its construction. The date corresponds nicely with the busy Disneyland Spring Break season which now seems to run from mid-March until the end of April. The photos of the near completed village show a great deal of detail and charm but underneath it all, it really is just an elaborate meet and greet for the newly relocated Disney Princesses. 

There's big money in princesses. I have now doubt the best photo ops will be reserved for those who purchase and make use of Disney's expensive Photo Pass services. And of course, a princess meet and greet would not be complete without a gift shop which specializes in all things Disney princess related. And just to pull your wallet out one more time, the Fantasy Faire Village will offer some snack foods and beverages that are not available anywhere else in the park.

I look forward to when I can whip out my trusty camera and shoot many pictures of the ornate village but as for the rest of it, I'll pass. Like ToonTown, for a grown-up without kids, Fantasy Faire Village is an elaborate facade covering little of interest. For parents of kids wanting to meet their favorite Disney princess, get ready to wait and probably wait a long time this spring and summer, and maybe spend a few bucks too.

A Last Look At Tony And His Railroad

MiceChat / MiceAge In The Parks Photo

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is down for an extensive refurbishment till about Halloween - a total of about 10 months. Yesterday I posted about imagineer Tony Baxter's sudden retirement. Tony and his railroad are forever linked so I guess it only seems right to take one more look at the man and his train. Right now, beside the majestic Big Thunder Mountain, sits an even more majestic construction crane which now dominates Disneyland site lines. The track is being ripped out piece by piece soon to be replaced by a new track (and new trains). Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was Tony's first major project. Though he would go on to work on the 1983 Fantasyland renovation  Splash Mountain, Indina Jones Adventure, Tony is most closely remembered as the creator of Big Thunder Mountain which has now been propagated in Disney parks around the world (under different names in some cases).

Thunder Mountain Railroad is a great ride, a fully immersive themed experience and guess what? It isn't based on a movie. It was created at a time when imagineers could still let their concepts and ideas reach for the blue skies and Disney was willing to put up the large amounts of money it took to finance them (Note: not all of them, even Tony Baxter had many of his greatest ideas squashed in corporate budgeting).

When the refurbishment is completed in late October I'd bet my dog that Tony Baxter will be there to greet its awaited return. Maybe he even gets the first official ride. It would only be right. Over the spring and summer and on into fall, many will miss Big Thunder Mountain Railroad but it will be back. Behind the scenes, fans of Disney parks may miss Tony Baxter even more.

A MiceChat / MiceAge In the Parks Photo

And how about one more ride on the wildest ride in the wilderness. YouTube videographer asianjma123 just recently posted another POV ride through and it may be the best look yet at the great attraction.

Tony Baxter Rides Off Into The Sunset

Tony Baxter
Senior Vice President
Walt Disney Imagineering
Retired - Feb.1, 2013 

Walt Disney passed away in December 1966. Since that time, arguably the two men who have been most responsible for keeping the memories, ideas, and legacy of Walt alive within Disney parks have been Mary Sklar and Tony Baxter. Marty, who worked along side Walt for many years and often gave Walt his most endearing words as a Disney publicist and writer before moving on to Walt Disney Imagineering, retired in 2009. His window of honor sits right above Disneyland's City Hall where he once had an office.

Yesterday, Tony retired. Though youthful in appearance, Tony Baxter did turn 65 and is at an age where retirement often seems like a good option. Of course, he did take on the obligatory role of part-time Disney consultant. I believe Marty, who seems to still turn up at every major Disneyland event, has the same role. These are high profile men that fans of Disney parks adore for their unwavering commitment to keeping Walt's dreams alive. 

Tony's career at Disney spans some four decades of service. He was there as the Haunted Mansion opened, conceived and built Thunder Mountain Railroad, and oversaw the last renovation of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. He could often be seen walking around Disneyland, a solitary man with a smile without the usual hangers-on of high profiled executives. Some have speculated (and it is speculation) that Tony, like Marty, may have been nudged a bit into retirement either because he couldn't handle the continuing efforts of Disney to put profits ahead of creativity and imagination or people above him just wanted people of his commitment to do the right thing instead of the most profitable thing out of the way. 

Tony is very much old school Disneyland and you have to wonder about the future of the place now that the old guard is leaving. I sent out a tweet this morning from my @ShrunkenNed Twitter account in response to his retirement announcement: "Abraham Lincoln now weeps knowing there is a storage crate with his name on it." Sadly, I fear it just may be true.

Marty Sklar
Walt Disney Imagineering
Retired July 17,2009