Saturday, October 10, 2009

9 Days to Disney: Everybody has a Laughing Place


These days, in this time of economic tightwaddedness (that's a real word, I swear), even Disney World has been hit. In the last few years, Disney hasn't really added a ton of big attractions at the parks. Part of it has to do with a lack of space within the already existing parks, but even moreso it has to do with the development costs of a ride like Expedition Everest. There just isn't going to be enough of an influx of new visitors with the way the economy is to justify the expense.

This is not to say that Disney has been complacent. They've added a bunch of new smaller attractions. D-Ticket attractions, if you will. Among them you've got one of my new favorites.

The Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor.

I'd actually place it higher on my list, considering how much I enjoyed it the one time I experienced it, but I don't know how well it'll stand up over the course of repeated visits, so I'm keeping it out of the top 5.

The concept is pretty simple. Monsters no longer scare people for energy, they make them laugh, so they've brought us humans to the factory for their daily stand-up show to collect our laughs for their power plant.

The execution of this is what totally makes this thing something amazing. I have NO idea of how they do most of it, and it makes the whole thing far more fascinating to me than it probably would be otherwise.

First, it's all on these super high-def screens with the animated characters. The amazing thing is that they have the animated characters interacting deeply with the audience. I don't find it amazing that the characters themselves interact, because that's easily explained, but the animation also corresponds to the interaction, totally seemlessly.

It's really, really cool, and I am definitely going to be check this out again to see how different thing thing is from show to show. I'm sure there are a lot of things that are repetitive, but I don't know how they'd do some of it without some really cool special effect technology.

It impresses me is what I'm saying. I'm hoping that it re-captures the magic of my first experience, because I've built it up pretty high in my head, and it made me laugh a whole lot.

And now... The Disney Trivia Question of the Day

Question: What is the highest rank you can attain on Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin?

If you think you know, please send an e-mail to blog@beefymuchacho.com

Everyone with the correct answer will receive a point. An incorrect answer gets 1/2 a point. The person with the most points will get a Limted Edition Pin purchased during my stay.

Standings are being updated daily at http://www.beefymuchacho.com/ on the "Contests" page.

I'll repost the questions with the answers at the end of the contest.

NOTE: The title of this post is from Song of the South, the Disney film that inspired Splash Mountain

1 comment:

Chris Kirbymoore said...

When I took my band to Disney, I went on this attraction 4 times. The third time, I took my entire band and none of us made it on the screen. The fourth time, we had the dancing guy, and 2 other preshow camera features, plus I got to be "That Guy." It was awesome. FYI- you should sit on the right side four or five rows back.

Kirby