How to Build An Epic Universe

I don't know about you, but Universal's fantastic Epic Universe has me excited about theme parks again! The Orlando Sentinel reports that to celebrate it all, NBC and then Peacock is about to premier a brand new show all about its creation. I'm looking forward to August 20th and 21st, respectively. It'll have to hold me over until I get to visit the park for myself. But, man, I cannot wait to do so!

(Photograph copyright The Orlando Sentinel.)

My Favorite Disney Park Photos: Disneyland Paris

In the series of "My Favorite Disney Park Photos", this particular one could seem to be a very odd selection. Yet, it tells quite the story of the excellence of Disney Imagineering and attention to detail. (I could have even saved this one for a "Design Detail" post.) When the Disney Imagineers created Disneyland Paris under the clear direction and leadership of Tony Baxter, nothing was left to chance. This meant digging deep into the French culture and giving the park an air of elegance that has never been matched since.

Eddie Sotto may not have gotten his 1920's America that he desired, but that doesn't mean he didn't knock Main Street U.S.A. out of the park. Take a look at this beautiful stained glass ceiling art! Stunning, right? It's a tribute to the Parisian stores like Galeries Lafayette that stun locals and tourists alike with its beautiful displays and absolutely gorgeous windows and ceilings. Was this necessary at Disneyland Paris? Of course not, but the park is made all the richer because of these decisions. 

The main park itself has not been given a major upgrade since its opening. But it is every bit as eye popping as it has ever been because of the original excellence of its design.

(Photo copyright Mark Taft.)

The Most Important Family Affair

The times when all our family is together are too few and far between, but they each hold significance. Last year, my grandson (on the left) shared about Jesus' heart for a broken and sinful people (that's all of us!) with his cousin (in the lime green shirt). This led to him asking me all about it over pizza one night while we were enjoying slices with his family. He asked incredible questions- deep ones. I could see by the look on his face that he understood the gravity of his separation from God and that he understood that only by receiving the gift of Jesus Christ and turning toward Him would pay for his sin and gain him entry into heaven upon his death. Weighty stuff! (It IS weighty! Read the Bible's book of John, chapters 1-3 and Romans, chapters 1-6 to understand these timeless truths.) 

My younger grandson prayed right then on the spot in the restaurant and gave his life to Jesus. Then he asked about baptism, saying his older cousin had explained it. He wondered if he had the facts right. When I asked more questions to clarify his understanding, it was obvious he knew it was a step of obedience in his newfound faith, one he wanted to experience. Since we were in a restaurant, I joked I could dump water on his head if I had to, but it would be better to do it later.

This year, we were enjoying the cool water of the pool, beating the July summer heat. Unprompted except by God and his own heart, he asked me, "Grandpa, can you baptize me now?" His parents gave their approval, and with his brother right there, and his cousin at his side, the youngest and newest follower of Jesus in our family, was baptized. I asked him all the appropriate questions you'd expect and asked him if he was ready to be dunked. Then, with his cousin helping me, we baptized him in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The small crowd around him erupted in cheers and with clapping. What an awesome gift God gives every believer to share the Truth and then also to be a part of a baptism afterward! I'm nothing special, but God sees each one of us as important and worthy of doing His joyful work!
 

Rock Star Secrets Beneath Red Rocks

What lies beneath the stage at the famous Colorado concert venue Red Rocks? Plenty! Everyone who's anyone in the music industry has performed here. And they've left their autographs on the walls right below the stage.  

Can you find the signatures of Paul McCartney and the rest of the Beatles? What about Sting? Perhaps Karen Carpenter and brother Richard signed their names here when the Carpenters were a hot new band? James Taylor has been here several times. And a million others. 

A friend of mine had the opportunity to go here after a concert as she knew a few of the band members. I'll withhold the name of the headliners to protect her privacy, but she was happy to pass these on.

Enjoy search for the names of your favorite musicians! There's plenty to look at!

Notable and Quotable: Greg Laurie

"There has to come a moment when we pass from money to meaning, from possessions to purpose, from success to significance. Ultimate success is serving the purpose of God in our generation."

                                                        Pastor and Author Greg Laurie

Here Greg is, in his new companion book, a devotional based of the House of David - the new Amazon Prime television series- talking about God's ultimate purpose for each of us. As always, his teaching comes straight from the Bible. This time, it's a quote from the book of Acts (historical recounting of how Jesus worked through the believers once he had returned to Heaven for a season).

“Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed."

Acts 13:36

What a challenge! What a question this is! Are we serving God's purposes during the time we are on this earth? Am I? 

This is absolutely something I wrestle with constantly! I know without a doubt that my time is limited, and once again, the words written in the Bible and Pastor Laurie's fleshing them out instruct me and give me pause. The guy was used decades ago to lead me to Jesus. Back then, we both had hair and not a wrinkle! Now, we're older and grayer and hopefully wiser, but the guy leads me from afar. 

What am I doing with the blessings and talents and gifts God has given me? What are you doing with those given you?

Design Detail: Great Moments at the Movies

Great Moments at the Movies? You don't remember that Walt Disney World attraction? Sure you do! You know it by a different name. It's found over at Disney-MGM Studios aka Disney's Hollywood Studios. There it is at the centerpiece icon of the park, the Chinese Theater houses the iconic Great Movie Ride. 

Back in 1989 when the park opened- the year I first visited- the newest theme park was filled with amazing design detail as a love letter to the Hollywood of old. There are few attractions, but they were good ones. Of course, the Great Movie Ride was king. But the Backstage Studio Tour, the Art of Animation, and the Monster Sound Show made up a pretty great day. It was small but charming, a lovely way to spend an afternoon. 

There's been so many changes, and the park now ranks as my least favorite Disney park in Florida. Wasted space, too many poor quality attractions, and a very confusing layout headline its many problems. Yet, its history is rich and fascinating. Here's a look at 35 years of the park's history, including rare concept art and plenty of photographs. One part trip report from the first opening days and much, much more. Trust me, you'll find it fascinating! 

Not Our Dinosaur!

Forgive me for doing so. But to quote the infamous Dr. Grant Seeker from Countdown to Extinction aka the very generic but soon to be disappearing Dinosaur at Disney's Animal Kingdom,  "That's not our dinosaur"! Jurassic World Rebirth is a mediocre film. The big bad beast is out of place. The pacing lacks, there's too much backstory in an attempt to make viewers really care about the characters.

The talents of the cast are wasted. Under Gareth Edward's leading, the talented Scarlett Johansson just doesn't have much to do. But it is not her fault. The story just isn't there. The best of the cast performances come from Jonathan Bailey in one single moment: his sincere and slightly frightened Dr. Henry Loomis gets appropriately choked up when he touches his first prehistoric beast. 

Yes, plenty of dinosaurs eating both good and bad guys, but that's about all this movie has to offer besides the air conditioned theater it is shown in.
 

The Gang's All Here

Today is a good day for many reasons, but when we count our oh so many blessings, family ranks at the top part of the list. Their hearts are as warm as the day was when I took this shot! And my heart was filled with joy and thankfulness.

 

Metro Line and Omnibuses for Epcot's World Showcase

A discussion on the boards of WDWMagic got me to thinking of days of EPCOT Center past. Wow. Now, here's a photo for you. This old omnibus used to travel between the end of Future World and World Showcase. Giving guests wonderful views of the country pavilions, these busses added some kinetic energy, charm, and an opportunity for visitors to rest their feet. Now, the crowds are just so big for each of the year round food festivals (Flower and Garden is our favorite!) that the busses would be fighting an uphill battle to get from one country to another. It's just too bad! Transportation within the park is now limited to boats on the World Showcase Lagoon.

Wouldn't this real life Metro station with a working train been great if it were added 

to France's World Showcase?

In my fantasy build of the park, there would be a Metro/Tube line that deposited guests to the back of a few separate countries. Imagineering could make it seem like it went underground, but it wouldn't have to. Think of it as the in-theme Peoplemover or Railroad. The countries known for such transportation would have to have been relocated (France, U.K., Japan), but to alternate bus stops, boat docks, and metro stations would have created plenty of enjoyable ways to navigate a very large space. All this would have taken is some imagination and a lot more money!

The Happiest Place on Earth Book and Disneyland's Tomorrowland Concept Art

 Imagineer Herb Ryman is probably one of my favorite Disney artists when I consider concept art and others renderings. His work on EPCOT Center is stunningly sublime and also dazzling. But for the first blog post of August 2025, I wanted to highlight his incredible work for Disneyland, specifically Tomorrowland's Monorail and Submarine Voyage stations. 

It's a tribute to the creative thinkers of Walt's day that they would stack two such important attractions on top of each other. Making the most of limited space, after all, was a tradition at "Walt's park". Fantasyland used this design trick to their advantage, creating layers of charm upon charm. In Tomorrowland, the goal wasn't charm but it was to create "A World on the Move" long before the 1967 version so many theme park fans rightfully adore- and it succeeded tremendously. 

This image is from the incredible new book, "The Happiest Place on Earth" by Don Hahn and Christopher Merritt. If you think you know all there is to know about the creation of Disneyland and have seen most of the concept art for it, you couldn't be more wrong. Get this book and get it now!

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

Walt Disney - A Magical Life: The Real Story and Some Rare Photos from the New York Public Library

With the opening day of Disneyland's "Walt Disney - A Magical Life" behind us, I thought this piece would add a fun bit of research opportunities for those of you that enjoy such a thing. The new show may play in rotation with Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln at the Main Street Opera House but the stories the Imagineers could tell can't be contained to short a short time frame.  Let me share with you a unique and rare series of photos. 

A few years ago, a very large number of photographs have been made public domain from the New York Public Library, including these related to Walt Disney. Some are great, others not so much, but they all focus on an aspect of the man, his work, and the company he left behind.

At the top of this article, there's a cigarette ad for Mitchell's Cigarettes. Walt Disney advertising cigarettes. How ironic to uncover this more than 50 years after his passing. It is certainly of historic value. But you can bet the suits at the company are making sure this is one photograph you don't get to see very easily.

Disneyland's iconic Golden Horseshoe. A most appropriate image to have on file if any of Walt'd beloved park and an opening day fan favorite attraction.

Walt Disney World has not been left behind either. Here's the Hall of Presidents, an opening day attraction in Walt Disney World. It was one of the must-see presentations in the park when attractions such as the Mickey Mouse (Musical) Revue were also still around.

EPCOT Center's Spaceship Earth. Futuristic elegance defined.

Two great vintage postcards from guests. The second one is worth reading. Click on all these for the largest size, by the way.

The man as I prefer to remember him. Thank you, Walt, and thank you New York Public Library for sharing these!

Here's Audio-Animatronic Walt, above, and an unskinned AA figure below. 

Now for the real story behind that Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic...

Disneyland fans had long heard about a rumored Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic that would be placed into the Main Street Opera House by the Imagineers. This would be for the 100th Anniversary of the Walt Disney Studios aka Disney100. Was there any truth to this? I can tell you first hand, the answer is "Yes!"

The story definitely carried weight, and Jack Kendall from DSNY Newscast referenced my story in a May 2024 YouTube video.  

Even back then there was talk about a Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic show! Imagineer Eddie Sotto shared the details of it in an interview with Didier Ghez way back on January 20, 2009. I was sent a series of audio discs by Didier detailing this extensive interview. Eddie discusses a variety of topics including unrealized plans for Disneyland Paris and Disneyland's Indiana Jones Adventure, and yes, the idea for a robotic version of Walt that he personally worked on. 

I tried to upload an edited MP3 of that portion of the interview, but I had no luck. Instead, here is the transcription:

"As embarrassing and weird as it may seem, I worked on a show that had an Audio-Animatronic Walt Disney in it. And it was in the Opera House, and the way we were going to do it, I think, would have been respectful and done in a real tear-jerker, you know, made for the Disney fan kind of way, and it was the Walt Disney story. But the idea of the Walt Disney story, the way we would do this, we would have a scrim or a translucent background we could project on. We'd have several of these, so when we projected on them the guests could almost get the impression of seeing in 3-D. 

And to tell you about it, you'd see a short brief film of Disney's history and then coming up to what's going to come to Disney's future. And in all this stuff I remember somehow - you know I worked on this for Tokyo Disneyland too - it'd say "And your host, like in the television show, Walt Disney" and up would come the desk from his office and he'd be sitting on the corner of his desk kind of in silhouette, and you would see Walt Disney kind of in silhouette, and just softly lit, and he would talk about and gesture and we'd project Tinker Bell flying around him and all these amazing things going on. 

It wouldn't be like Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, where he's being sole focus of the show, he's kind of hosting you a little bit, throughout the history of Disney and America and all the things that we were doing. So I remember working on that. Never happened. But you know, the idea was that you wouldn't lean on it as the sole element of the show. It was like American Adventure at Epcot you see these characters that come and go and they're part of a bigger picture."

Tomorrowland in Red

Just love these two images of a very early Tomorrowland circa 1955! Imagineering's red pencil sketch reveals the first Rocket to the Moon concept, a ride that would thrill fans from an intellectual angle. This was years before Space Mountain, although the idea was firmly entrenched in the heart and mind of Walt Disney.

While it looks cool in red, I think it really shines when transferred into a simple black and white image. Sometimes less pizazz is more! This may be one of the reasons that Disneyland itself remains a Mecca of sorts for theme park fans. You can sense the days of Walt here if you look for it. But you don't have to search thousands of acres to do it. The original Magic Kingdom was there from the heart of the man. Guests know it and can feel it!

(Concept art copyright Walt Disney Company.)

Train Ride in Europe

In honor of my father's 86th birthday, I'm posting a shot of he and my mom on the train in Europe. It was one of their favorite trips, and I certainly understand why. Happy Birthday, Dad!

 

Bit of Kodak History

My oldest son and his family stumbled into this little ice cream parlor. As Eastman Kodak aka Kodak holds a very special place in our family history, he sent us a photo of this vintage mirror bearing a company ad.  It was due to my father in law's kindness that my then girlfriend and I got to dine in Disneyland's very exclusive Club 33.  Later on, his generosity was expressed in passing on to us free tickets to Walt's park and even Florida's Magic Kingdom and EPCOT Center. 

Last night we watched a one hour television special from about Walt Disney World from 1977. Beyond the endlessly cheery music and storyline, the presentation included some ads- and mostly of products that no longer exist. So, preserving this piece of history seems all the more important.

If You Can't Go to Tom Sawyer Island, Go Here Instead

The closure of Tom Sawyer Island at Magic Kingdom got you down? Does the removal of the Rivers of America bring a tear to your eye and make you wish for the days when Walt Disney ran Imagineering? Don't worry! We have you covered! There's a great place within reach that will remind you of the golden days of theme park design at its best.

Just head down the street from Walt Disney World and take a turn into Universal Orlando Resort. Head into Islands of Adventure. Walk past Hogsmeade and Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and even go beyond Velocicoaster. Travel into Jurassic Park and stop. Take a deep breathe. Look around until you find Camp Jurassic. 

This place has all the charm and design detail you'd see on the soon to be demolished Disney island, just with a bit more thrill. Beautifully designed amber studded caves remind you this is not Huck Finn's playground. Is there something dangerous lurking around the bend?

Maybe there are flying dinosaurs overhead. Oh, no! It looks like the creature has a few victims that are being taken high above the island. I guess you could go up there for quite a ride and an incredible view.

But if you're inside those caves and hear a monstrous beast roaming them, hurry up! Get out of those caves, and take shelter up above! At least you'll get a better view of what is on the prowl. And you'll get to see how much there is to explore. 

This overlooked gem in a park stacked with thrills brings a different and immersive vibe on the world of prehistoric creatures. So, if you're missing Tom Sawyer Island and soon, the rest of Dinoland U.S.A. at Disney's Animal Kingdom, this is the place to go! Yes, Universal now owns dinosaurs in the theme park world. But at least they do it well!

(Photographs copyright Mark Taft.)