Disney's Hollywood Studios was a mixture of old and new experiences, and with those old experiences there were new twists. The first ride we went on was Star Tours where we got a new variation from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Then we checked out Indiana Jones: Epic Stunt Spectacular, which was so much fun! Part Indiana Jones; Part behind the scenes stunt show.
The Great Movie Ride is a trip down classic movies past with interaction from the ride host, Jungle Cruise style, though without the jokes, and a gangster who takes over halfway though the ride.
Beauty and the Beast-Live on Stage was interesting. Wasn't a fan.
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror was such a surprise when the ride car moved forward into dropping position. I screamed so loudly I thought I was going to lose my voice! We loved this ride so much we went twice in a row!! Wonder how long the original version will remain; it's nice that it's still available.
Fantasmic was in a large amphitheater, which was nice, because there was seating. It was fun seeing the differences between the two versions, though I ultimately prefer the Disneyland version. (I have no idea when I'll get the chance to see Disneyland's updated Fantasmic, but I watched it on YouTube, and it looks really good.) Gotta say, Steamboat Willie at the end of Florida's Fantasmic is underwhelming compared to the Mark Twain, which is a fitting conclusion.
Disney's Hollywood Studios was my least favorite of the 4 parks.
I didn't get to ride Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, which is apparently really fun. The line was long. This park feels really small compared to the other parks. Apparently it was bigger before the renovations started, with a cool New York section, which someone was telling me about. When Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land open hopefully Disney's Hollywood Studios will be worth a revisit.
And that immersive Star Wars hotel that's been announced sounds beyond epic, and expensive. Austenland, Star Wars style. Man, it would be a cool experience.
(Ha! I totally look like I wasn't paying attention in this photo, but I was. Also, our guide was really funny. One of my favorites yet.)
In a five years old mind everything is possible.
When I was five years old I actually believed Star Tours, the ride at Disneyland based on Star Wars, was real. I wrote about that in 2012, and since then I've thought about it. Was I exaggerating? Was I remembering it correctly? That was my memory, but how much of my memory remained intact? Really I've just been wondering if I could have been that easily fooled.
My nieces did the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Disneyland last month, and while they were waiting they were told that Cinderella's mouses were preparing their dresses. I thought it was cute, but my five year old niece came over to me and asked, "Are the mouses preparing our dresses?" She said it with such excitement that I couldn't say no. It would have been like denying Santa Clause, who I think she still believes in, not sure. Who am I to destroy a little Disney magic? I honestly went along with it. You're only young once.
A day later we went on Jungle Cruise. It was both my nieces first time as the ride was under refurbishment November 2015. I just assumed it was pretty obvious that the animals weren't real. During the first part of the ride I looked back to see my five year old niece with a look of uncertain discontent. My Mom said to me that she started snuggling into her in fear, asking if the animals were real. My Mom told her they were robots. Technically I believe they're animatronics, but that's besides the point. She calmed down a little, but was still uncertain.
We went on Star Tours a couple days later. I told my five year old niece several times that it was an interactive movie in a moving box. With her believing in Cinderella's mouses and questioning the reality of those Jungle Cruise animals I couldn't take a chance. For starters she doesn't care for fast/intense rides. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is more her speed, and as she told me several times during the trip it's one of her core memories. She seemed to like Star Tours, but I couldn't get her to go on it again. Thankfully my six year old niece was game.
I believe the day a child loses the imaginative belief that all things, including Santa Clause, is possible is a sad day. We all need a little Disney Magic. That suspended belief. I love Disney magic . . . except with Star Tours. I couldn't let my niece go through the same trauma I endured at her age. The line had to be drawn.
I know, I know, I promised last week that I wasn't going to talk about Disneyland for a long time, but as I was thinking about Star Tours I remembered something really embarrassing . . . so of course I have to share . . .
I've already stated that Star Tours was my first introduction to Star Wars, finally seeing the films in the 5th grade, but I grew up on Star Trek. My parents are huge Trekkies, loving the original, so when "Encounter at Farpoint," the first Star Trek: The Next Generation episode aired on September 28, 1987, when I was in kindergarten, my family watched, and we continued to watch every single week until the show ended during my 6th grade year. That set me up as a Sci-Fi geek for life. You know what else came out in 1987? Star Tours. Living so close to the park (a 3 1/2 hour drive) the ride was an instant hit for my Parents. Not so for me.
I don't know if they let me ride so young, chances are they did, and I know I did not like it. Every time I rode I cried, and that lasted for a few years. And they weren't small tears. They were "I'm freaking out!" tears. I think my Dad found it funny, at least I remember him laughing at me a few times, but I was terrified!! We were going into space!! We were being attacked!!
I thought it was real.
At home I would lay in bed trying to fathom how such a thing was possible. How were we really flying to space? And were there really all those crazy spaceships in the sky? I never understood how, standing in front of the Star Tours building, I could never see shuttles flying up. Then I quickly assumed the ships must be cloaked. Remember, I grew up on Star Trek, and that made sense.
At some point someone finally sat down and explained how the ride worked, and it was probably my Dad taking mercy on me. A box within a box. Motors and machines moving the inner box, creating the sensation of flight, and the film aiding the illusion.
Is it any wonder I made it to the first grade still believing in Santa Clause?
This is my last Disneyland post chronicling my recent trip to the Magic Kingdom. I've somehow managed to create about seven blog posts out of just that one day visit. Can you imagine how many posts I'd create if I stayed several days, or a week at Disney World? The possibilities! (I've never been to Disney World; someday I'll make it). I've been to Disneyland so many times over the years I'm well into 30-40+ visits. I've lost track. So doing anything new at the park is a wonder, which made this visit all the more special as I got to experience many firsts.
Starting out my family was Mickey's "Guest of the Park," getting a special badge, free parking, and a special parking spot. Below are some more, new aspects to Disneyland/California Adventures.
Star Tours: The Adventure Continues opened Summer 2011 with sparkly 3-D and many ride combinations. Taken from Wikipedia: "There are eleven random segments of the film (two opening segments,
three primary destination segments, three hologram message segments, and
three ending destination segments; when combined, they allow 54
different possible ride experiences.) which are presented in the ride."
The Original Star Tours, which opened in 1987 and was my first exposure to Star Wars, was getting a little boring, though I will always remember it was great fondness. As fun as the new ride is, I miss those robots! The father and son robot team you hear talking in the line and the ships pilot. Well, whenever I feel nostalgic I can listen to the original via "Star Wars: An Audio Retrospect" which came with this book I got . . . "I know this is probably your first flight and it's . . . mine too." That never got old. Poor Rex got his memory erased after each flight! You can read the original script here.
California Adventure, at Disneyland, opened World of Color in June 2010. I had heard so much about this show, seeing videos and watching behind the scenes, that I couldn't wait to finally see the show 2 years after it's opening. Long time waiting, but it really is amazing. Tip: make sure the first thing you do when you get to the park is get a World of Color Fast Past. Fast Past's are typically used for rides, but here they use it for seating sections. The sooner you get your fast past, the better the section. You can find it by heading through Condor Flats to the Grizzly area. Unfortunately my family learned the hard way and got our ticket early afternoon. The standing area wasn't terrible, but it wasn't fantastic. The show itself? Wonderful! And worth the wait. Now they need to do this Fast Past section thing with Fanstasmic.
I wrote two separate blog posts on this, which shows how excited I was with visiting Radiator Springs and riding the ride. So amazing! The Radiator Speed Racers is currently my favorite ride, gasp, even over Star Tours . . . until they open Indiana Jones again after refurbishing and small updating.
I love the Little Mermaid and always wished she had her own ride, and now she has one! The movie is one of my favorites. Disney's Golden Age of animation started in 1928, but this film launched the Disney Renaissance in 1989 which lasted till 2000. I'll never forget going to the theater to see The Little Mermaid. My family was visiting my grandparents and we went to a nice theater in Riverside CA. The place was covered in Little Mermaid decorations, and they gave out prizes before our showing. It was a big deal!! And the movie changed my life.
Talking about 1928, California Adventure got a face lift to reflect this golden age of Hollywood. It was in 1928 when Disney came to Hollywood, and the front of the park was made to reflect that. I love old California architecture, and I love art deco, so the change is nice.
Grizzly River Run opened when California Adventure did, but somehow I've never managed to ride it. That might have something to do with Magic Mountain. Back in middle-school I went on their rafting ride, first thing, and spent the entire day soaked. Not fun, but the Grizzly ride was fun, and I didn't get too wet, which is really quite lucky.
Soarin' Over California is one of my favorites, but my brother Steven hadn't been, so this was his first time. I would buy potpourri of that pine and orange scent they mist during the ride. It smells like California. Growing up in Central California . . . it's lucky they didn't do cow smell . . . (Talure County CA reference, which is the County I lived in . . . I heard once there were more cows then people.)
First time I tried this cake! There's this amazing, crunchy hazelnut thing going on at the bottom. Plaza Inn, 'nuff said.
I was waiting in line for It's a Small World when everything got really dark, all lights going out dark, and suddenly Nutcracker music started playing as colored projections shined on the ride's facade, giving us a little show. So unexpected and cool.
And it's the first time I've seen Sleeping Beauty's castle look like this. Enchanting.
It seems like old news now that I'm finally blogging about this today, considering the news broke only 48 hours ago. But it is big news. BIG NEWS to us geeks. The Mouse bought the rights to Lucasfilm. And there's going to be three more Star Wars movies: Episode VII, VIII, and IX, the first slated for 2015 with the rest following every 2-3 years after.
I'm ecstatic about the news. Being both a Disney and a Star Wars freak, imagining the two together has always worked well in my mind. I rode Star Tours, the Star Wars themed ride at Disneyland, before I saw the movies in the 5th grade on VHS (DVD's hadn't been invented yet . . . that makes me feel old . . . ). And the very first journal entry I ever wrote when I was in elementary was over rumors that there were going to be three additional Star Wars movies, of course Episode I wasn't released until I was a senior in High School. I was that far ahead of the curve.
I'm one of those Geeks who's adopted the Thrawn trilogy as my Episode VII, VIII, and IX. What's the Thrawn Trilogy? It's Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire trilogy (Thrawn's the bad guy . . . an epic bad guy.)
And Heir to the Empire introduced us to what I believe is the most famous Star Wars expanded universe character Mara Jade. Her character later becomes Mara Jade Skywalker. Yes, she marries Luke, and they have a kid named Ben . . . if you don't know who they named him after . . . I'm not going to explain. She also has a dark past. Emperor Palpatine raised her.
And if you've read my blog post about the origin of the name Cerulean Jade, the musical duo I'm in, you'll learn Jade is me. Ever since reading Heir to the Empire in the 6th grade I've been obsessed with Mara Jade. She's an awesome character.
I highly recommend the book series. Till this day I stand by the fact that it's the best, well crafted, amazing 3 novels I've ever read. They're masterpieces.
And these books got me into reading. Before Heir I read Baby Sitters Club and Boxcar Children, but Heir to the Empire made me thirst for the written word.
So what will be in the new movies? What can we expect?
Everything now is speculation, but there are some hints our there. This last summer George Lucas met with Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher. Mark said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly online:
"Yeah, last August, he asked Carrie and I to have lunch with him and we
did. I thought he was going to talk about either his retirement or the Star Wars
TV series that I’ve heard about — which I don’t think we were going to
be involved in anyway, because that takes place between the prequels and
the ones we were in and, if Luke were in them, he’d be anywhere from a
toddler to a teenager so they’d get an age-appropriate actor — or the
3-D releases. So when he said, “We decided we’re going to do Episodes VII, VIII, and IX,” I was just gobsmacked. “What? Are you nuts?!” [Laughs]
I can see both sides of it. Because in a way, there was a beginning, a
middle, and an end and we all lived happily ever after and that’s the
way it should be — and it’s great that people have fond memories, if
they do have fond memories. But on the other hand, there’s this ravenous
desire on the part of the true believers to have more and more and more
material. It’s one of those things: people either just don’t care for
it or are passionate about it. I guess that defines what cult movies are
all about."
Then Mark said on his twitter:
“Congratulations to George for today’s mega-deal! Can’t comment on Ep 7
before I have all the facts which are short supply right now —
Patience.”
Even he didn't know about Disney buying Lucasfilm, but I find it interesting that he and Carrie were told about episodes VII, VIII and IX just a few months ago, especially since Lucas stated he wasn't going to make another film.
It's also well established that George Lucas won't serve as more then creative consultant. He's given his story plans to Disney, but it appears that Lucas isn't writing the scripts, and he's not directing. So who is writing and directing? A lot of speculation out there, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's someone already in the Disney family (which now expands to Marvel, Pixar, The Muppets and any show on ABC), but they could bring someone new in. I'm curious, but I get the feeling it will be a while before we find out.
So will there be any material from the expanded Star Wars Universe used? From what I've read the story will be entirely new, and nothing from previously created expansions. (So no Mara Jade . . . ) but I've heard two different hints. I've heard that Luke Skywalker will be in it (that's the most consistent rumor.) In one thing I've read Episode VII takes place a few decades after Return of the Jedi. So does that mean between 20-30 years? I guess Luke will be between 47-57 years old? I don't know. Then I've also heard that Luke will be in his 30's-40's.
TheWrap interviewed Dale Pollock, the unauthorized biographer of Lucas. He claims he got to read the story outlines Lucas wrote and states:
“It was originally a 12-part saga. The three
most exciting stories were 7, 8 and 9. They had propulsive action,
really interesting new worlds, new characters. I remember thinking, ‘I
want to see these 3 movies.’”
But who knows what will happen, and there's a chance Disney may choose to move away from Lucas's original vision. But in any case I'm super excited and can't wait! 2015 can't come soon enough.
It should be noted that 20th Century Fox owns 5 of the previous Star Wars movies till 2020, and owns A New Hope, episode IV, permanently. It will be interesting to see if Fox will ever let A New Hope go. I hope so.
