Walt Disney World Detail (with Aerial Images) *Updated page 20, post #297*

[WeatherbySwann]

LOL you guys are killing me... I'll try to get one up this weekend...

Hooray!
BTW you must be getting excited - those WDW & DCL tickers are getting to a low countdown! Can we expect some great pics on the DCL POTD thread like we se on the WDW POTD from you?

 

[°O°Joe]

Hooray!
BTW you must be getting excited - those WDW & DCL tickers are getting to a low countdown! Can we expect some great pics on the DCL POTD thread like we se on the WDW POTD from you?

Hope so... yes I am getting excited... Although the 20th is just a one day visit for us so it's going to be squeezing a lot in - got a one day park hopper for something like $120 ... But Bridget, my wife, is going with, without the kids... and one day is all she'd go for.

 

[°O°Joe]

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Muppet*Vision 3-D

Official Description
“Join the fun as your favorite fuzzy pals take you on a hilariously wacky 3-D tour of Muppet Labs. Find yourself in the center of a cinematic spectacular of song, dance, surprise appearances, Audio-Animatronics® characters and non-stop shenanigans that literally bring the house down around you. It's must-see 3-D!”

The Attraction
Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3-D is a 3-D film attraction located on New York Street in Disney’s MGM Studios.

The Queue / Pre-show – Before being seated in the theater where the film is shown, the queue winds through "Muppet Labs", home of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker. The audience passes several office doors featuring outlandish job descriptions, then enters a large room filled with Muppet "props" and boxes with silly labels. Muppets greet the visitors from television screens suspended from the ceiling, interacting with one another at times. The audience is repeatedly reminded to take a pair of 3D glasses from several containers around the room before entering the theater, which is modeled after the theater depicted on The Muppet Show.

Muppet*Vision 3-D – After taking your seat in the plushly appointed 584-seat theater, don your special 3D glasses to watch this wacky 13-minute trip through the Muppet Laboratories. But don't be surprised when your sight isn't the only sense to be stimulated! You'll be blasted with a burst of air, squirted and suddenly find yourself in a dreamy shower of soap bubbles at various times throughout the show. Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant, Beaker, begin the demonstration with disastrous results, releasing an impish 3D character called Waldo. Things go from bad to worse, as the Swedish Chef commandeers the projector in the rear of the theater and Statler and Waldorf heckle from their box seats. The show comes to a raucous conclusion, with cannons exploding, fireworks blasting and penguins squawking in a tumultuous but happy ending.

Touring Tips
-Be sure to arrive with plenty of time to experience the pre-show as it is an attraction in and of itself.
-This ride is part of the Extra Magic Hour program at the park.
-Since the theater holds 584, don't be discouraged by large crowds waiting outside this attraction - you don't often have to wait longer than 15 minutes for the next show.
-You will have to wear special 3D glasses to enjoy the full effect of this attraction. If you wear prescription glasses, you place the 3D glasses over them. You may find the 3D effects hard to see, even with the glasses in place. Try looking beyond the effect, rather than directly at it - this sometimes seems to help.
-Certain parts of this attraction, particularly the conclusion, are very LOUD, and some small children may be frightened. Advise them to remove their 3D glasses and close their eyes if they become too overwhelmed.
-Sweetums, a scary-looking but friendly monster, walks around the front of the theater at various times during the show. If you think your child might enjoy seeing him up close, try to sit toward the front of the theater.
-Kermit and Miss Piggy sometimes greet guests at the exit of the Muppet*Vision 3-D Theater.
-Don't miss the Muppet Fountain in the courtyard in front of the Muppet*Vision building, as well as the fire truck located at the exit of the attraction!
-This attraction is wheelchair/ECV accessible.
-Assistive Listening Devices from Guest Services Can Be Used Here.
-Reflective and Guest-Activated Captioning Available.
-Restrooms and telephones are located a short walk away in the Toy Story Pizza Planet Arcade and Restaurant.

Dining
Toy Story Pizza Planet, with its fun-filled game arcade, is just a short walk away.

Shopping
The Stage 1 Company Store, whose entrance is located to the left of Muppet*Vision 3-D, features Muppet and Sesame Street items for both children and adults.

Interesting Facts
-Opening date: May 16, 1991
-Attraction duration: 17:30
-Audio-Animatronics: 10
-Theater capacity: 584
-Sponsored by: Kodak
-The show is a joint effort by Jim Henson Productions, Walt Disney Studios and Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI), the design and engineering division of The Walt Disney Co.
-The film was directed by Henson and written by Bill Prady.
-While waiting in the pre-show area, see if you can spot some of the visual puns - the most famous is the net full of Jell-o cubes overhead (Get it? A net full of Jell-O? Annette Funicello?)
-In the pre-show area you'll spy a sign that tells you the key has been left under the mat -- if you look down, you'll find the mat, and there really is a key under it!
-To create the ideal setting for Muppet*Vision 3-D, Imagineers designed a theater that brings the show directly into the audience, causing some to call the experience 4D, or 4 Dimensional. Guests are squirted with water, blasted with air, and real soap bubbles float through the air throughout the show.
-Muppet touches can be found throughout the architecture's ornamentation, including the Jules Verne-style projector contraption operated by the Swedish Chef.
-Unlike the process that is used in most 3D shows requiring red and blue lenses in the 3d glasses, all of the Disney 3D presentations, including Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3-D, and Honey I Shrunk the Audience, use a process known as "reverse polarization." The smoke-colored glasses that you must wear in these attractions allow your brain to interpret slight differences in the angles between frames. This method has many advantages, including that it can be added to a film after completion of the shooting of the movie.
-Miss Piggy pays homage to the Statue of Liberty in the fountain in front of Muppet Vision 3D. Unlike the original statue (which also doesn't have water spouting from her crown), Miss Piggy's sash reads, "Ms. Liberty."
-Look for this “Hidden Mickey”: On the wall near the far turn of the long outside waiting queue, you'll find a classic Mickey in the center left of a blue poster that says, "5 reasons to return . . . 3-D glasses."

 

[disneyaggie]

Awesome thread!

 

[WeatherbySwann]

Once again, great! . 120 bucks for a park hopper I agree is pricey! Hope you have a great trip.

A net full of jello LOL. I'll have to look for that next time.

 

[meliahz]

I love this thread!!!

 

[Disneenut]

You Rock Joe!

 

[farcus17]

This is one of the coolest things I have seen... You never get to see the stuff behind what they want you to see... Great work... Thanks!!

 

[JediTim]

Joe,
Great thread...I never new that the website maps.live.com had such detailed views. I was able to see my house from four different sides...obviously taken at different times as the same cars were not always in the driveway.

You have created a great way of recapping a ride / location and with pictures that really help visualize what I miss so much.

Thanks for taking the time to post these overviews. Can't wait for the next.
Tim

 

[DAZZ_UK]

great pics ty..seems funny seeing all the framework on the one sided buildings

 

[disgram]

Thanks for posting. It actually helped this past trip to WDW in August. I can get around most parks with no problem, but the MGM on the far side, has always been a problem. Maps are great, but having PICTURES is alot better!!!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Great thread Joe! I just found it this morning and had to read the WHOLE thing!! I really loved the UK and Peter Pan and the Haunted Mansion. I too thought it was all in the mansion itself. You just never really stop and think about it, I guess.

 

[prekteacher]

I love to look at the pics. It makes me want to more my trip up . More pics please.

 

[°O°Joe]

Thanks everybody! Glad you all like it...


...to be continued.

 

[Jrabbit910]

Thanks joe for the update... im a little scared at your avatar... but not your pics!!

SPOOKY SCAREY!!!!

 

[°O°Joe]

Thanks joe for the update... im a little scared at your avatar... but not your pics!!

SPOOKY SCAREY!!!!

Thanks... that's actually a real picture of me. Taken at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party last year. I got the free face painting in Mickey's Toontown Fair - I was very impressed with the job they did...

 

[Jrabbit910]

Thats amazing... they did such a great job! Your face looks AWESOME.. (still scary) but AWESOME!

 

[°O°Joe]

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Tomorrowland Transit Authority (TTA)

Official Description
Ride into the future and take a breezy tour of Tomorrowland. Visit the inside of many of the area's fun attractions for an exciting glimpse behind the scenes. Next stop — the future!

The Attraction
The Tomorrowland Transit Authority (also referenced as the Blue Line) is a people mover system in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom. It has one station, at Rockettower Plaza, where passengers enter and exit onto a circular moving platform. All of the cars are blue with silver sides. The ride is a favorite among many repeat visitors.

Look up as you make your way through the Tomorrowland area that includes Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Space Mountain, and Astro Orbiter, and those blue cars you see gliding by are part of the Tomorrowland Transit Authority – a 10-minute journey around and through Tomorrowland, seated in a revolutionary transportation system. At least that's how it was thought of when it opened in the Magic Kingdom in 1975. Using linear induction motors, the vehicles glide with ease in an environmentally safe manner. Each section has five cars that travel at 10 feet per second except at the loading and unloading station where it travels at 2.7 feet per second.

To reach the loading platform you will step onto a moving conveyor belt that is at a steep incline. The loading platform moves at the same speed as the vehicles, so you can step inside easily. Each vehicle can seat four persons, two riding forward and two riding backward.

Although the taking of photos is difficult, since you're constantly moving, the view is exceptional.

History
The WEDway PeopleMover opened on July 1, 1975, based on the PeopleMover at Disneyland in California. It did not use the system of rotating Goodyear tires used at Disneyland, instead using linear induction motors. Because of that, Goodyear did not sponsor the attraction. The cars are not covered, but the track is, unlike California's version. The original narration was provided by longtime Disney voice, Jack Wagner. In June of 1985, his narration was replaced by the voice of ORAC One - "the commuter computer", who guided guests along the tour. In the spring of 1994, the attraction's name was changed to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority to coincide with the unveiling of the new Tomorrowland, and it was given another, different narration track.

The line is a one-way loop, with speeds varying from 1.84 mph in the station to 6.84 mph maximum. There are certain sections where two directions run next to each other. The only switches are at Space Mountain, where the main track passes through the attraction and storage tracks run around it.

Station listing
Though only one station actually exists, other destinations are announced while riding the system:
-Rockettower Plaza (the only real station)
-Tomorrowland Interplanetary Convention Center (home of Stitch's Great Escape)
-Mickey's Star Traders
-Space Mountain
-Carousel of Progress
-Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
-Metropolis Science Centre (Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor)

Blue, Red, and Green Lines
Tomorrowland's back-story makes reference to the Transit Authority's three different "lines": the Blue Line, the Red Line, and the Green Line. The Blue Line, which constitutes the actual ride, is Tomorrowland's intra-city transportation system. The Red Line takes riders outside of Tomorrowland to other destinations in the galaxy, while the Green Line provides local transportation to Tomorrowland's "Hover-Burbs." Actual sets depicting the Red and Green Lines can be seen on the forward-facing right-hand side immediately after the "EPCOT City" Model.

The original Epcot
At one point, the vehicle passes a display case containing the partial architectural model of the original EPCOT as envisioned by Walt Disney. This was originally supposed to be a real-life working city that never came into existence. The model in its complete form was displayed on the second floor of the Carousel of Progress when it was in Disneyland.

Touring Tips
-This ride is part of the Extra Magic Hour program at the park.
-This is a great place to rest your feet and enjoy the sights from above.
-If you're not sure where to go next, jump on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority to decide. Not only is it restful, but you'll be able to see if there are long lines or crowds below you.
-This ride is also great at night when the park is all lit up.
-Be sure to listen to the overhead speaker that narrates your journey for plays on words such as, "Paging Mr. Morrow, Mr. Tom Morrow." And don't forget to "keep all forward facing tentacles inside the vehicle!"
-Wait times are usually nonexistent. If there is a long line for this ride, the whole park must be REALLY crowded!
-You must be ambulatory to board this ride.
-Handheld Captioning Devices from Guest Services can be used here.
-There is nothing overtly scary about the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, however, you do go in and out of dark areas on the route. Occasionally, when you are in Space Mountain, you can hear screams from those on the roller coaster.

Dining
The nearest food location is the Launching Pad, where you will find turkey legs and an assortment of beverages. The Plaza Pavilion and Cosmic Ray's offer counter service and are in the general area.

Shopping
There are no shops associated with the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. In Tomorrowland you can visit Mickey's Star Traders.

Interesting Facts
-Opening date: July 1, 1975
-Attraction duration: 10:03
-Designer / Manufacturer: WED Enterprises
-Train capacity: 20
-Cars per train: 5
-Capacity per car: 4
-Number of trains: 32
-Length: 5484.04 ft
-Sponsored by: Alamo
-The WEDway PeopleMover, premiered in Disneyland on July 2, 1967, while the Walt Disney World version didn't open until July 1, 1975. However, the two attractions are somewhat different.
-The classic People Mover became the Tomorrowland Transit Authority in 1994, incidentally the same year that Disneyland's People Mover closed permanently.
-The Tomorrowland Transit Authority takes you on a leisurely tour through Tomorrowland, and actually passes through a number of attractions and Mickey's Star Traders shop. HINT: If you ride this at the end of the night as the park is about to close, you maybe lucky enough to see Space Mountain with the work lights on!
-While Walt Disney World's version of the PeopleMover is still operating, Disneyland's version closed in 1995 and reopened as the Rocket Rods, a faster ride that utilized the original WEDway track. The Rocket Rods closed in September 2000, however, and have not opened since. The track remains intact.
-In the Disneyland version, the cars on the track don't have a motor in them - the motors are on the track itself! About every nine feet apart along the entire length of track are small Goodyear tires being turned by an electric motor. As your vehicle passes over the tire, it is pushed forward. The Walt Disney World version, though, uses a propulsion method known as "linear induction." Here, rather than having motors rotate tires that push your car, the cars are pulled by electromagnets embedded in the track. The magnets attract and repel the vehicles in order to move them along the track. This clean, quiet system was developed in the early 1970's by MAPO, Disney's electrical engineering group, and is also used at the Houston Intercontinental Airport.
-Look for this “Hidden Mickey”: In the last part of the ride, when you move through the Metropolis Science Centre (Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor), the woman getting her hair done wears a belt buckle with a classic Hidden Mickey.

 

[JerseyMamaBear]

cool, another one!!!! Thanks

 

[WeatherbySwann]

Another great installment! It's kind of freaky how just beyond the main street shop windows is a parking lot!