The Imagineering Story Sheds an Honest Light on Disney's Failures- with One Notable Exception

Leslie Iwerk's incredible The Imagineering Story is one captivating read! Perhaps my favorite Disney related book ever. Much like her Disney+ series of the same name, she digs deep into the history of Imagineering and all its successes and failures. 

We Stateside fans have seen firsthand the failure of laughingstock California Adventure 1.0, the cheaply made mini park Hong Kong Disneyland, and for those who have traveled to France, the absolute disaster of Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris. All these parks built under Michael Eisner's second decade were a stark and very disappointing contrast to Tokyo Disney Resort's amazing Tokyo Disneysea park built and opened around the same time. 

 

Iwerks covers these disasters with breathtaking honesty and evaluation of its shortfalls. She talks about projects that never made it off the drawing boards as well, such as smaller projects like the unbuilt Burbank located Disney Backlot (above). Think Downtown Disney with actual attractions thrown in among the shops and restaurants.

In an utter journalistic fail, Iwerks dedicated a whole four paragraphs to the creation of Harry Potter lands at Universal Orlando Resort, mentioning how Warner Brothers fumbled their attempt to get Disney interested. Really? As we all know and is well documented, that is not how the story actually played out. (The real story is here.)

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey set in Hogsmeade became the theme park news of the decade and beyond, turning the often very innovative Islands of Adventure and the whole resort into a must-see destination for theme parks fans. Diagon Alley at Universal Studios next door only added to the resort's popularity, now costing Disney two full days of lost visitors. Like me, once they discovered the "new" Universal, these parks would now become a permanent piece of any Florida vacation. Things will only get worse once Epic Universe opens with yet another Potter themed land as well as one based on Super Mario World from Nintendo. Disney better get going.

How will the next chapter of an Imagineering history book read? That remains to be told.

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

Universal Here We Come!

At the invitation of our youngest son, we are off to Universal Orlando Resort! As I mentioned earlier in the blog, we sees the resort as "his" resort versus Walt Disney World- which is viewed as a much older person's domain or for those with little kids. Of course, being a big fan of Harry Potter, he would love the Studios and Islands of Adventure. Gotta say, it is much less expensive than Disney World! Park tickets are less and resort rooms much, much less expensive. Should be a great trip!

Live from Universal Orlando Resort- Day Four: Details Abound at the Studios

The last two days of a pretty incredible trip to Universal Orlando begins today. The guys are loving it all with Volcano Bay being a blast and the two main theme parks a great place to hang out. 

No disappointments when it comes to the two Harry Potter themed lands and their stellar line up of attractions, shops and restaurants- straight out of the books and movies.

"Dad, pumpkin juice tastes like apple cider."

Time for more adventures in Diagon Alley. 

The details are everywhere. Look up! (see below.)

Looks as if the land of Homer is pretty rich in detail as well. Certainly a place for fans of the Simpsons to enjoy some fun! I love how Universal has not been afraid to reach out to the cynical but fun loving generation of the 90s. They need to be kids again!

More to come as things get wrapped up!

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 Clearly, it's time for a beer...

 Don't lose your head. Previous customers couldn't help it.

 A look at the future?

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Time for ice cream... and some exploration with that magic wand.

 Just waiting for the snot flavored jelly beans next...

 The dragon looks fantastic!

 It would probably help tremendously if I knew the books and movies. But I'm a muggle of the first degree.

I'mm guessing these last two are from inside the ice cream ship.

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(Photos copyright Mark Taft.)

Live from Universal Orlando Resort- Day Two: Islands of Adventure

Day Two begins. As you can tell from the photo above, it starts at Islands of Adventure. Home to Hogsmeade and the famous - game changing- Forbidden Journey of Harry Potter.

Amazing attention to detail!

The approach. 

More coming later in the day.

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Breakfast at the Three Broomsticks proceeded by a ride on the soon to disappear Dragon's Challenge. (Which, by the way, my son thought it was terrific and was sad to see it go.)

My question- "So Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley?  
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Rounding out the day with Dragon's Challenge (again).

Jurassic Park River Adventure, the Hulk, and Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man came next. According to him, Spider-Man is not their favorite ("Good but I wouldn't call it the "don't miss" of Islands of Adventure.")  Kong was fun but nothing to write home about.

Live From Universal Orlando Resort- Day One: Universal Studios

Fresh from this morning! A trip to Universal Orlando for 5 days- and not a Disney park on the plan. Why? Two words: Harry Potter. The boy wizard was THE draw for my youngest son and one of his best friends. They'd wanted to do this trip since Harry made his debut at Islands of Adventure years ago. And, good for them, they finally did.

Using an early morning entry, into the park they went... 

The verdict so far? And I quote, "Better than Everest!"

Stay tuned for more as the day- and the week- goes on!

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Guess it's time for something to eat. The guys must be starved.

How about The Leaky Cauldron?

Did they just step into the films? The execution of the story seems incredible! It's making me rethink my visit next year to Orlando- and I haven't even seen more than the first film.

Next up I heard was to buy a wand at some shop around the corner...

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Apparently, there's quite a selection of these. I'm guessing these are a bit more popular than the mini-banshees sold at Disney's Animal Kingdom at Pandora. I would think multiple million-selling books and a blockbuster film series may have something to do with it.

 A bit of a show, I'm told.

The final selection. More to come...

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The Mummy, Duffs, and Butterbeer- what a combination!

"How was The Mummy?", this dad asked. "Insane!" was the reply. I knew it would be a hit with its sequence of shows scenes and tricks up its sleeve. 

Being that The Simpsons was a big favorite for my son, he was sure to get a kick out of Homer's themed land. And he sure did. But the call of Harry Potter brought him back to Gringott's and a stop for Butterbeer.

In the theme park wars, it sounds as if Universal has the young adult market owned with its mix of more edgy and extreme attractions. Now I understand better why the family market is the focus of its advertising. In fact, according to my son, Minions had a 2.5 hour wait about an hour ago. Just goes to show there are less attractions for the younger kids there.

I wonder what's next...

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(Photographs copyright Mark Taft.)