Birthday Salute to Richard Carpenter, A Musical Genius

The musical genius Richard Carpenter was born today back in 1946. With his beloved sister Karen, the Carpenters duo made a sound never duplicated before or since. Richard was not only a vocalist, and arranger and producers he was also a pretty talented songwriter. When Karen Carpenter sang these songs penned by Richard and songwriting partner John Bettis, the results were nothing but magic: Goodbye to Love, Yesterday Once More, I Need to Be in Love, Top of the World, Only Yesterday, and Those Good Old Dreams- among many others. Thanks, Richard, for bringing such great music to the world. Happy Birthday!

The Original Opening Day California Adventure Attraction Posters

The premier of DCA 2.0 in 2012 brought Disney fans a new slew of attraction posters. But did you ever see the ones designed for the opening day of Disney's California Adventure? Here they are! Do you remember Condor Flats, the Golden State, and Paradise Pier? 

Nowhere in the park was the theme of California more convincing than in the collective area known as the Golden State. With Grizzly Peak as the park's centerpiece, guests were drawn into separate areas celebrating the state's key experiences with unique attractions fans were sure to love... like agriculture and bugs. I kid you not. The desert themed Condor Flats honored the realm of aviation. In the later re-imagining of the land, desert gave way to the forests of California since Cars Land made the original desert area redundant. Soarin' Over California survived, at least seasonally.

One of the park's most disdained lands was Paradise Pier, a seaside carnival that never belonged in a Disney park. Cheap, tacky, and plain ugly, the lone star attraction was California Screamin', now the lesser Incredicoaster. There was a season of time when the San Diego themed overlay to the land actually made it more attractive. But now, it's Pixar Pier, an even tackier overlay than the original mess. 

Hollywood Pictures Backlot continues to disappoint. But it will soon give way to a Pandora / Avatar themed attraction in a park honoring California. That's modern Disney for you! 

If you'd like to see the next set of attraction posters for this park, you can take a look here.
 

Living Out My Inner Indiana Jones

One of my favorite parts of being a private tour guide is taking people to new and exciting, even exotic places. As you can tell from this latest photo, I had a chance to live out my inner Indiana Jones. The desert air was crisp and clean, but it certainly was very hot! 

My granddaughter asked if the camel was smelly. He was not. In fact, this gentle animal allowed me to stroke his neck and pat his hump. Normally, I don't post too many photos of my tours as they include other people. I won't invade their privacy. But this rare solo photo was one I had to include just for my personal satisfaction. Hope you don't mind the indulgence!

Rarely Seen Space Mountain Concept Art for the Magic Kingdom

Buried deep in my "Disney Imagineering Concept Art" files was this little gem of a design for the Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain by Imagineer George McGinnis. As much as I love the new smooth track found at Disneyland, I've always enjoyed Florida's lift hill and the upside down astronauts. The stage is beautifully set by their presence. The outer space adventure of a lifetime is one that other theme parks cannot fully duplicate. 

Well, that's not entirely true. Isn't Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind the new century version of Space Mountain? Yes, and it's proving once again that the best parts of the Epcot redo is when Imagineering took inspiration from the past.

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

Images of Disney's Israel Showcase at Epcot

An Israel pavilion in World Showcase at Epcot? There's been talk for decades and images and plans and models. But it will never happen. Is world politics getting in the way? Are fans disinterested in this kind of edutainment? As far as politics go, unfortunately, this is no longer the kind of world where people can act sanely. I mean, if you sit in the Hall of Presidents, you get people who curse and vocalize their disdain to Audio-Animatronic robots. Not even real live people. I can only imagine how the same kind of folks would react to a pavilion based on Israel, Iran, or somewhere else that seems to be a hotbed of controversy.

Disney's Unbuilt Western River Expedition Comes to Life!

Just imagine that the Disney suits had ignored the outcry of "Where is Pirates of the Caribbean?" when the Magic Kingdom opened in 1971. What would have happened if they would have trusted their instincts and stuck to their plans? Imagineer Marc Davis'  Thunder Mesa in Frontierland and its star attraction, Western River Expedition, would have been the signature Walt Disney World experience for decades. 

Through the magic of AI technology, we can imagine what could have been. Much like the results of taking the concept art for Tony Baxter's unbuilt Discovery Bay for Disneyland (look here), the results are quite striking!

The original plans from Mr. Davis included the Western themed version of Pirates, a Big Thunder Mountain Railroad coaster, and so much more. Think hiking trails, a log flume ride that would pre-date Splash Mountain by two decades, and tons of design detail that would make Florida's Frontierland the greatest themed land of its time.

Best of all? Following through with these plans would have given the castle park an identity all its own and probably saved the Rivers of America. Gone would be the upcoming Piston Peak and the Cars invasion where it doesn't belong. Sure, Villains Land would eventually come. The concept is too rich to ignore. 

The benefits would have continued: Tiana would have received her own custom designed attraction with a much better story line in a brand new mini-land, Tom Sawyer Island would still be the much needed escape from the crowds, and the thematic consistency of this whole side of the park would not be ruined. But what do I know?

I say, look at these what could have been images again, and then tell me Pirates of the Caribbean was a worthy replacement.

(Concept art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

Disney Ruined the Figment Ride- So He Rebuilt It

 A rebuilt Journey into Imagination at Epcot? It's the dream of many fans of Figment and Dreamfinder. One man made it a reality. I can only imagine - can you imagine, too?- the hours it took to bring this all together. Out of the ultimate respect for its creator, I'm only posting a link to his creation instead of showing it on the blog. Go here. Now.

Pretty Rare Piece of Disney Concept Art

You don't need a description of what this is if you're a fan of old school Disneyland and have your eyes open! This piece of concept art from 1958 shows the comical sea serpent from Tomorrowland's beloved Submarine Voyage. If you've been a fan of the Insights and Sounds blog for awhile, you know I love concept art! There's so many pieces on this blog! Of 4,200 posts, I bet at least 25% show off the skills of the Imagineers... but I've never taken the time to count. I'm too busy deciding which piece to post next!

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

Karen Carpenter Long Ago and Far Away

Just thinking about Karen Carpenter today and how much I enjoyed the very first concert I ever saw. She and brother Richard and the band were playing in Las Vegas in 1976, and the wonderful show became the basis for the second of two live in concert albums, Live at the Palladium. As if the concert itself wasn't good enough, I was able to meet my favorite singer backstage afterwards. What a gift from God! You can read all about it and more about the album by going to my Carpenters Revisited / Fresh Look review right here. 

Bees, Snakes, and Other Creatures

Spiders, snakes, bees, wasps, etc. They are not something I like, even if I know they play a part in the ecosystem. In the last week, we've had two water snakes in our backyard pond and a TON of bees and wasps. I've never seen anything like it! But I'm thankful for the Word in Isaiah  chapter 11, verse 6 which describes what it will all be like when Jesus returns and establishes his kingdom: "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them." AMEN!

 

The Disney Gallery Attraction Poster: Evolution of A Dream

Attraction posters continued to be one of the most searched for items on the Insights and Sounds blog. For good reason! First generation Imagineers created gorgeous works of art to celebrate and advertise the attractions at Disneyland. The tradition continued decade after decade. Here's the Imagineer's latest creation- a nice poster that advertises the preshow exhibition to the impressive Walt Disney - A Magical Life theater presentation. The exhibit is named Disneyland 70- Evolution of A Dream. This piece is in the style of the day for Main Street U.S.A., circa the turn of the 20th Century. 

There's posters for the attractions in each land at Disneyland on the blog as well as some for the Magic Kingdom, the "renewed" Epcot, Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disneysea, California Adventure (yes, some great ones, actually!) and a smattering of them for other Disney parks. What a great number of treasures waiting to be found as you search here!

And watch for the November post which shares the rarest Disney attraction poster of them all...

The Proposal

The real deal. Not the movie with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. And it could only happen at Disneyland!

The Grandsons Take a Dive at Casa Bonita

Not in the pool, mind you! Two of my grandsons dove wholeheartedly into the sopapillas at Denver's (in)famous Casa Bonita. Once known for meals that would stick to your plate if you held it sideways, it's now known for pretty good food (yes, really!) and for being a great but expensive place to spend some family time. And it was for everyone involved!
 

Rare Hong Kong Disneyland Attraction Poster

Some Disney park attraction posters are rare and some are really rare! This one was only shown publicly at the Hong Kong airport in late 2019 and early 2020. It was designed to give residents and visitors a small taste of what their reimagined castle would look like. The Castle of Magical Dreams turned out much better than I would have thought! The reaction has been more positive than not, and I agree 100%- each Disney castle park should have a unique icon. Don't you agree?

Never Forget the Attack on America This Day!

It was a day of great heroism in the face of incredible cowardice. Like the whole world, I watched the events unfold. Radical Islam extremists decided to attack us on September 11, 2001. We as a nation lost so much, but what did we gain? We as a people rallied together. People of all faiths, political preferences, and cultural backgrounds. We came together to grieve together and pray together and to help together. Let us remember this day. 

Let us not just talk but continue to pray for our nation and for our world. The senseless murder of Charlie Kirk and other political officials and influencers as well as ordinary citizens is not acceptable. We are better than that! Or are we? Shooting at school aged kids!?!?  God have mercy on us.

But back to today, 9/11. We should remember the sacrifices of those serving, the loss of family and friends. Let us honor those who gave their lives. Let us work together to preserve our God-given freedoms. Lord Jesus, have mercy on us and do not judge us according to what our sins deserve- either as a nation or as an individuals!