Will we ever see Western River Expedition

[CheriBibi]

Originally Posted by Master Gracie

like i ve said before, do it up in HKDL

With the huge Pirate extension they're supposed to get, I don't think WRE would really have its place, even when their Frontierland is added, and I don't think Frontierland is gonna be added anytime soon now that they plan a real "PIRATE LAND".

But as long as we're in China... Why not Shanghai. I may be naive, but I think this park will be very different from anything we've already seen. Chinese critics have been very strong already, and I don't see how they can try an pull another copycat park up there... Maybe the occasion to put all the lost ride into reality.

(can't wait for a Shanghai official announcement, so we can start threading crazy about it

[lazyboy97O]

Originally Posted by Nautilus

Actually, it was suppose to be here in Anaheim, not WDW. It was designed as a replacement for the Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland ride that was shutting down. But the pressure from other parks for thrill rides and budget concerns shelfed the project and we now have Big Thunder which was cheaper and is a thrill ride.

After it became apparent that Western River Expedition was not going to be included in the Magic Kingdom, Marc Davis tried to get it built elsewhere. But the attraction was originally designed for the Magic Kingdom, even appearing on some park maps in the 1970s as a part of Phase II. Davis tried to get the attraction built at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland.

Part of Western River Espedition does still live on. Big Thunder Mountain [Railroad] is a descendant of the mine coaster planned as a part of the entire comples, known as Thunder Mesa. Today, part of Disneyland Paris' Frontierland is known as Thunder Mesa.

[TheSwami]

To be honest, I hope they never dump money and land into this project happening at Disneyland.

Put it in Florida or Hong Kong where they're not surrounded by the southwest already, where it'll feel like something unique and foreign and interesting. Forgive me for not being thrilled by the concept of a cowboys and indians ride taking up valuable space in an area where we still have cowboys and indians.

From what I can see, that ride is basically all saloons and gag setpieces about native americans and cowboys herding cattle. Why would that be interesting to anyone who's lived in the southwest for any period of time?

[lazyboy97O]

Originally Posted by TheSwami

To be honest, I hope they never dump money and land into this project happening at Disneyland.

Put it in Florida or Hong Kong where they're not surrounded by the southwest already, where it'll feel like something unique and foreign and interesting. Forgive me for not being thrilled by the concept of a cowboys and indians ride taking up valuable space in an area where we still have cowboys and indians.

From what I can see, that ride is basically all saloons and gag setpieces about native americans and cowboys herding cattle. Why would that be interesting to anyone who's lived in the southwest for any period of time?

That was exactly the attidute that sparked the conception of Western River Expedition, but replace "southwest" and "cowboys" with "caribbean" and "pirates".

[Opus1guy]

Originally Posted by EvilQueen

It's still described as the "Greatest Ride Never Built..."

Well...one tiny little bit did get built. Here's the background from the other thread on this:

At the Main Street Opera House at Walt Disney World in Florida, they had a WDW Preview Center. In it they had moved many of the models from the original Preview Center in the Lake Buena Vista Hotel Plaza complex. They also installed many displays on the history of Disney theme parks and Audio Animatronics.

Near the end of the display area was little show with an Audio Animatronic owl that was to be part of Western River Expedition, who told you all about how he and other AA figures were made. His name (as written for the attraction) was "Hoot Gibson" (named after the legendary cowboy performer). This owl was the one that was planned to be your guide through Western River Expedition.

Myself and a few friends had these brand new Kodak Super 8 Film Sound movie cameras, that were the precursor to Home Video Tape Cameras that hadn't been invented yet. This Super 8 Sound camera (called "Ektasound") was a pretty expensive proposition to own and operate (film was expensive and the thing ate batteries like a monster!). The Super 8 film it used had a magnetic sound stripe near the sprocket holes...that's basically how it worked.

Anyway...enough of the background. Here's some rare 1974 home movie footage (with Sound!) of the owl show. The film starts off with a couple of miniature mechanical figures that Walt built back in the 50's that were operated by a huge system of cables and cams...that was the precursor to Audio-Animatronics. They proved too cumbersome for practical use, so Walt shelved the idea. But when electronic controls came into being...he dusted off the idea and that's how we ended up with the Tiki Birds and Audio Animatronics. Walt's original idea was just too far ahead of the technology of the day.

The film starts off with the Dancing Man (which actor/hoofer Buddy Ebsen did the modeling for) and then shows a Barbershop Quartet with the control systems underneath. The sets were crafted by Walt Disney himself. Then the film goes to the owl (notice the "Family Owlbum"). So...from the Opus Archives...a rare film record of "Hoot" Gibson himself:

http://members.aol.com/opus1guy/uplo...rnriverowl.wmv

Enjoy!

And as added bonus material and a Western River Expedition connection to Disneyland...Disney Legend and Imagineer Bill Justice told me that the "guts" for this WDW Hoot Gibson owl...were taken from the owl in the Trophy Room of Club 33!

[patattack]

Can someone explain what this is? was it ever a ride at WDW? or a concept for DLR?
isnt it still a maybe for DLR? I dont know what it is and ive tried to look around and see what it is.

[Skunkwerx]

http://www.omniluxe.net/wyw/wre.htm

Have a fun read.

Basically a GRAND theme and land concept that ended up being watered down due to various reasons.

[kirbilicious]

From my understanding, when the Magic Kingdom was being built, the imagineers felt pirates were already a big part of local legends and customs so they didn't include Pirates of the Caribbean. Instead, they planned to build a different dark ride to rival Pirates except with a western theme - Western River Expedition. However the park opened, people complained that there were no pirates, Western River was cut and the MK got a greatly reduced version of Pirates.

[patattack]

Wow thanks for sending me that link, i want it now.

[Opus1guy]

Gee. Someone else started a thread on this right here in the Disneyland forum, just yesterday!

http://micechat.com/forums/disneyland-resort/67118-will-we-ever-see-western-river-expedition.html

[sediment]

Someone wrote a nine-part series on WRE.
http://jimhillmedia.com/search/Searc...xpedition+part

[sediment]

Originally Posted by patattack

1. Can someone explain what this is?
2. was it ever a ride at WDW?
3. or a concept for DLR?
4. isnt it still a maybe for DLR?
5. I dont know what it is and ive tried to look around and see what it is.

1. See links above.
2. No.
3. No.
4. Never say never, as Marty Sklar stated recently about the Subs, but really, there is no room for it, without ripping out a huge chunk of the north backstage behind Big Thunder Ranch.
5. Please see the links. If you have internet access, you can google "western river expedition Disney" and get tons of information, some of which might be useful.

[danyoung]

Opus, what a great old piece of history! I've seen the owl on promo tapes, but have never seen his entire performance. Also, were the dancing man and the barbershop quartet pieces actually there? I've seen the dancing man, of course, now on display in D/MGM. But I've never seen the barbershop piece before - very cool!