Disneyland Project Tracker

[Hilsbro]

isn't there a loop hole where if someone is discussing a topic and the link is helpful, it can be posted....but you still can START a topic with a link....

[HMF]

A lot of the stuff in that article will NEVER happen.

[stitchon]

Originally Posted by HMF

A lot of the stuff in that article will NEVER happen.

Kind of like how adding characters to Small World will NEVER happen.

That Jet Pack idea has actually been implemented in other parks before, and with some serious theming, it could be one amazing attraction.

[Kritter]

Originally Posted by HMF

A lot of the stuff in that article will NEVER happen.

you never know.

[Kritter]

Originally Posted by Hilsbro

isn't there a loop hole where if someone is discussing a topic and the link is helpful, it can be posted....but you still can START a topic with a link....

something like that. lol

[HMF]

Originally Posted by Kritter

you never know.

Many of those things. especially in Tomorrowland are just non-realistic and will never happen.

[stitchon]

Originally Posted by HMF

Many of those things. especially in Tomorrowland are just non-realistic and will never happen.

Not really. It's Disney, folks. If they can make mountains, they can sure as hell make a jet pack ride.

[Coheteboy]

Originally Posted by HMF

Many of those things. especially in Tomorrowland are just non-realistic and will never happen.

'non-realistic' shouldn't be the argument of why they will never happen. It'll all come down to practicality, time, money, the nation's pulse on entertainment, etc etc.

Not realistic is what blue sky is all about. Turning something not real into reality.

[Nautilus]

Originally Posted by HMF

Many of those things. especially in Tomorrowland are just non-realistic and will never happen.

Like "going up the waterfall"?

Yeah, they're all non-realistic...

[Coheteboy]

Originally Posted by Nautilus

Like "going up the waterfall"?

Yeah, they're all non-realistic...

I'm still waiting for the technology to take us up a vertical waterfall.

[Hilsbro]

that would be really fun...no joke

[MasterGracey]

David Koenig over at Mouse Planet is confirming that the Bank of Main Street (and half of the Opera House lobby) will be converted into the new home of the Disney Gallery, a project that Al Lutz reported on months ago. Although, Koenig's version of the Opera House/Bank of Main Street project seems a little less substantial than the version Al talked about, which would have brought back Lincoln along with Washington and Obama, and switched around the entrance/exits of the Opera House. Also, no word on if the Bank of Main Street Gallery will be two levels, or just one.

Mouse Planet: Upheaval at the Opera House

It’s official. Nostalgia is erasing authenticity.

It was formally announced during last Monday’s “Mickey’s Roll Call” (a fancy term for the daily meeting for managers) that the Bank of Main Street and a portion of the Opera House lobby will become the new Disney Gallery.

The bank’s 1955 interior, complete with hardwood teller windows, has been used primarily for Annual Passholder processing over the last 15 years. It all will be torn out, along with at least half of the Opera House’s lobby. Most of the artifacts from the lobby, including Walt’s offices, are planned to be moved to Disney’s California Adventure, as its entrance corridor and Hollywood area are gradually transformed to recreate the Southern California of Walt’s early days.

For the last six months, the Gallery has been operating in temporary quarters in the Opera House exit. But fans have been pushing for a permanent home ever since it was evicted from its second-story spot in New Orleans Square to make room for the Dream Suite.

After the move, the Opera House exit will revert back to its original, non-commercial self. The AP processing center will be relocated to the Plaza Pavilion, which was another, even-higher-visibility location considered for the new Disney Gallery. The former restaurant facility is receiving new kitchens in the back to serve the New Orleans Square restaurants when their own kitchens go down for rehab. After that, the Plaza Pavilion kitchens will serve as back-ups and for special events.

What hasn’t been approved for the Opera House is bringing back Mr. Lincoln. Several plans are being bandied about, but management is convinced it can’t return Abe as was, with the gimmicky stereophonic “haircut” soundtrack. Hopefully Disney can act quick. It will never again have such perfect marketing tie-ins, with the fast approaching Lincoln bicentennial, President Obama’s continual references to Lincoln, and Steven Spielberg preparing a new Lincoln movie starring Liam Neeson.

However, management might envision its pulling all the Disney stuff out of the lobby and leaving only enough square footage to accommodate the giant model of the Capitol and a few other Lincoln-related exhibits as the first step in bringing back the animatronic emancipator.

And for comparison's sake -- here's Al's take on the project from November 2008.

MiceAge: Abe & Barack

For Disneyland's 55th anniversary. it now looks like an old classic attraction will return in a lavish new facility. The animatronic everyone claims to love, but few actually bother to visit, Mr. Lincoln is now planned to return to the Disneyland Opera House in time for the 55th. But the plan isn't to just dust off the old figure and start passing out 3-D headphones again. If Imagineer Tony Baxter gets his way the Disneyland Opera House would literally be flipped around, and Mr. Lincoln would have some new friends join him on the stage.

The proposal now that is quickly gaining traction from Team Disney Anaheim's (TDA) sharp pencil boys would have arriving visitors to the Mr. Lincoln show heading in through what is now the exit (via the green doorway, to the left in the above photo). Visitors would wait in a small lobby area adjacent to the hat shop (shown below) before heading in to a smaller theater with fewer seats.

Even though this new Lincoln presentation will be shorter and more compelling, even Tony Baxter knows that the hundreds of seats installed in 1965 are a bit of overkill regardless of how good the Imagineers make the robotic president. So the show would be presented as a history of Disneyland technology and the importance Walt placed on patriotism and pride in the country for his little park. The curtain would rise on the familiar Abraham Lincoln figure, who would give a stirring speech before introducing the nation's first president, George Washington who would also say a few words.

Piggybacking on the work now going on to eventually revamp Walt Disney World's (WDW) impressive Hall of Presidents animatronic attraction, WDI now wants to create a condensed version of that new show for Disneyland. But instead of going through the entire parade of silent nodding rubber presidents like WDW does, George Washington would then cut to the chase and introduce the current president, which would be Barack Obama when the attraction opens prior to the 55th anniversary. President-elect Obama's animatronic would say a few well-scripted words, and the show would end with the requisite stirring music and gushing patriotic pride.

The Opera House audience would then gather their personal belongings and exit to their left, instead of their right, and enter into a newly expanded Disneyland history exhibit. Much of the displayed items and models from the 50th anniversary show would remain, in addition to some reworked displays on the life of Walt Disney himself, but the old lobby would be reworked a bit physically and would be expanded out to the south.

The current location of the Bank of Main Street (shown below) would be transformed into a new version of the Disney Gallery, which would be accessible from both the Opera House post-show area as well as the sidewalk off of the Town Square.

The new Gallery space would be much larger than it was when it was in New Orleans Square, and the current plan has the shop using both the lower and upper levels of the bank building. The space above the Opera House and Bank of Main Street is currently offices for park management as well as the location of the Disneyland operators who staff the park's private telephone exchange. These offices and facilities would need to be moved, since the proposal for this big new attraction depends on plenty of floor space to sell the expensive collectibles and artwork that well-heeled Disneyland fans crave.

Much like the Japanese "office ladies" who snap up whatever cutesy souvenir the park offers to keep the cash registers humming at Tokyo Disneyland day in and day out, the affluent California collectors have done much to pad the bottom line for Disneyland in the last few years. It's a customer demographic that other established parks like Paris and Orlando lust after, but that really only exists in solid numbers here in Southern California. Those profitable sales are what are giving Tony Baxter's Opera House makeover plan plenty of lift, so thank a collector the next time you see them.

After two years of changing plans for a new Disney Gallery, from the Plaza Pavilion to Downtown Disney, the Disneyland merchandise folks are just happy to have a big new space custom designed for them. The current Annual Passholder (AP) services offered at the bank would be moved semi-permanently to the newly refurbished Plaza Pavilion (shown above).

If this Opera House/Disney Gallery plan gets the final green light (and it was looking very positive earlier this month) it would be a real bonus for Disneyland fans in particular and those who miss Walt Disney's unabashed patriotism. We'll keep you posted.

[stitchon]

Hmm... not sure whether I like it or not.

I'm going to have to wait and see on this one.

[WDITrent]

Originally Posted by HMF

You don't want a WALL-E ride? I have already designed one.

I love Wall-E, and he deserves some place in the parks (much more than some other Pixar characters), but I don't like the crane idea.

[HMF]

Originally Posted by WDITrent

I love Wall-E, and he deserves some place in the parks (much more than some other Pixar characters), but I don't like the crane idea.

I think you won't be dissapointed with the WALL-E ride I designed.(which I plan to utilize once I get into WDI.)