Western River Expedition

[Titanfreak46]

lets get our minds off of tom sawyer island for awhile.....when are we ever going to get this marc davis gem. im tired of tda and imagineering coming up with cheap pixar movie tie-ins. This is in the same mold as pirates of the carribean who would not want another pirate type ride. It might even bring back the western genre.

[Aladdin]

Re: Western River Expedition

I want to see this attraction at DLR, too! (the heck with
the P.C. police) Frontierland could use this attraction,
but of Course DCA is lacking ANY type of a dark ride like
Pirates or Haunted Mansion, so this would be GREAT
attraction to bring a true Disney experience to the Park
built on the cheap.

[Melonballer]

Re: Western River Expedition

Actually I would like to see it over in DCA too.

[Barbossa]

Re: Western River Expedition

Western River Expedition could be themed to this:



I've got the two Lucky Luke movies that Disney released, Ballad of the Daltons and Diasy Town and they are absolute gems. Would make a great attraction.

[CousinPhil]

Re: Western River Expedition

Oh my goodness! I was trying to remember the name of that cartoon that I saw years ago! Thank you so much!

As for WRE, I would love to see an original WDI idea of that scope here. I can't even remember the last major Disneyland attraction that wasn't based on a movie.

[Doofy]

Re: Western River Expedition

Where can you find information on Western River Expedition? I would love to see a new attraction like pirates. I love being able to get on the ride and be entertained for 15 minutes. Much better than the 2 minutes of a roller coaster.

[phruby]

Re: Western River Expedition

If we can't have WRE, why not put in Gyser Mountain like the intended to do a few years ago. The enterance could be on TSI and you take a tunnel under the river to get to the actual ride.

[Titanfreak46]

Re: Western River Expedition

Kill two birds with one stone Phruby. Get them over to the island and then if they want can get to another ride from the island. Brilliant!!
I actually think it would be better in Disneyland for the theme, and these Marc Davis rides really deserve to be in Disneyland not
a half-effort park like DCA.

Doofy if you want to learn more about WRE jim hill came out with a great set of articles about it. It was actually to be a 30-40 minute ride, substantially longer then pirates and the haunted mansion.

http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hi...01/01/271.aspx Article 1
http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hi...01/01/272.aspx Article 2
http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hi...01/01/273.aspx Article 3
http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hi...01/01/274.aspx Article 4
http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hi...01/01/275.aspx Article 5
http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hi...01/01/276.aspx Article 6
http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hi...01/01/277.aspx Article 7
Enjoy!

[nish221]

Re: Western River Expedition

Also a nice shorter description at Wikipedia

[sediment]

Re: Western River Expedition

Every so often, I like to go through that JH set of articles. It's vintage stuff.

[Aladdin]

Re: Western River Expedition

Western River Expedition could be themed to this:



I've got the two Lucky Luke movies that Disney released, Ballad of the Daltons and Diasy Town and they are absolute gems. Would make a great attraction.

HaHaHa! Add "The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin" the movie with Roddy
McDowell, Moving to San Francisco and planning on panning for gold. It would fit in perfectly!

[sleepyjeff]

Re: Western River Expedition

I can't even remember the last major Disneyland attraction that wasn't based on a movie.

I can. It pretty much destroyed 3 classic Tomorrowland attractions and only lasted itself about a year

[Opus1guy]

Re: Western River Expedition

There have been several references over the years here to this major attraction that was planned as the next big "E Ticket" at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom just after it first opened, called "Western River Expedition."

For those unfamiliar with this planned show, this was to be a mega Audio Animatronic attraction a la Pirates of the Caribbean, only with a Wild West theme. The major designs were done by Disney Legend Marc Davis. It was supposed to open in 1976 as part of a large landmass addition to WDW's Frontierland, to be called "Thunder Mesa."

At the Main Street Opera House at Walt Disney World in Florida, they had a WDW Preview Center. In it they had moved many of the models from the original Preview Center in the Lake Buena Vista Hotel Plaza complex. They also installed many displays on the history of Disney theme parks and Audio Animatronics.

Near the end of the display area was little show with an Audio Animatronic owl that was to be part of Western River Expedition, who told you all about how he and other AA figures were made. His name (as written for the attraction) was "Hoot Gibson" (named after the legendary cowboy performer). This owl was the one that was planned to be your guide through Western River Expedition.

Myself and a few friends had these brand new Kodak Super 8 Film Sound movie cameras, that were the precursor to Home Video Tape Cameras that hadn't been invented yet. This Super 8 Sound camera (called "Ektasound") was a pretty expensive proposition to own and operate (film was expensive and the thing ate batteries like like a monster!). The Super 8 film it used had a magnetic sound stripe near the sprocket holes...that's basically how it worked.

Anyway...enough of the background. Here's some rare 1974 home movie footage (with Sound!) of the owl show which starts off with a couple of miniature mechanical figures that Walt built back in the 50's that were operated by a huge system of cables and cams...that was the precursor to Audio-Animatronics. They proved too cumbersome for practical use, so Walt shelved the idea. But when electronic controls came into being...he dusted off the idea and that's how we ended up with the Tiki Birds and Audio Animatronics. Walt's original idea was just too far ahead of the technology of the day.

The film starts off with the Dancing Man (which actor/hoofer Buddy Ebsen did the modeling for) and then shows a Barbershop Quartet with the control systems underneath. The sets were crafted by Walt Disney himself. Then the film goes to the owl (notice the "Family Owlbum"). So...from the Opus Archives...a rare film record of "Hoot" Gibson himself:

http://members.aol.com/opus1guy/uploads/westernriverowl.wmv

Enjoy!

It's a Windows Media Player file. If the Player is not already on your computer, you can download it for free from Microsoft's web site for PC or Mac.

For more information on Western River Expedition...see:

http://home.cfl.rr.com/omniluxe/wre.htm

[Speedway]

Re: Western River Expedition

Hands off punks!
Western River Expedition was always intended for the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, never ever for Disneyland. The reason for this is because it was meant to be the replacement for Pirates of the Caribbean at the Magic Kingdom. It inspired Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland but was never meant to appear at the park in it's MK-incarnation.

Oh and while I'm here, hands off Mickey's PhilharMagic too. That's staying at WDW.

[Melonballer]

Re: Western River Expedition

Neat video Opus1guy. Thanks for posting it.

[lazyboy97O]

Re: Western River Expedition

Hands off punks!
Western River Expedition was always intended for the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, never ever for Disneyland. The reason for this is because it was meant to be the replacement for Pirates of the Caribbean at the Magic Kingdom. It inspired Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland but was never meant to appear at the park in it's MK-incarnation.

Oh and while I'm here, hands off Mickey's PhilharMagic too. That's staying at WDW.

Actually, Marc Davis tried to get it built at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland after he realized that he would not get it built at the Magic Kingdom. Western River Expedition wasn't the whole thing either. It was Thunder Mesa, which included a runaway mine train along with Western River Expedition, which just got seperated from the whole and built.

[Opus1guy]

Re: Western River Expedition

Neat video Opus1guy. Thanks for posting it.

You're welcome. But it's actually a chemical emulsion film > VHS video tape transfer > DVD digital video burn > Windows Media Player File.

So I'm not quite so sure just what the heck it actually is anymore!



Let's just call it a home movie.

[Aladdin]

Re: Western River Expedition

And like I said, DCA is desperate for a quality attraction of that
style and magnitude, an attraction for everyone, regardless of
age or height. And it really should be built now, while they can
still get the Sherman Bros or "X" to write a Western diddy for
for the attraction! I can't believe Disney has been sitting on a
"gold mine" of an attraction all these years, and still haven't
built it. Now is definitely the time.

[Doofy]

Re: Western River Expedition

Doofy if you want to learn more about WRE jim hill came out with a great set of articles about it. It was actually to be a 30-40 minute ride, substantially longer then pirates and the haunted mansion.

Thanks for the articles. I just finished reading them. After I posted I did a little searching and found the general concept but nothing that detailed. Too bad that was never built. I suppose there is a slim sliver of hope but I doubt it. That is exactly the kind of attractions that DLR needs. Something new that immerses you in the story.

[pineapplewhipaddict]

Re: Western River Expedition

If anyone wants to know any more about what this attraction would be like, just check out Phantom Manor (DLP). There's a series of a wonderful documentary/ride through on youtube (don't want to link without author's permission-just do a search), with original animation for Thunder Mesa. It also goes into the background story of the whole ride concept.

Actually, I just went to check out JH's articles...here is part 8 (It goes into further detail as to where you can find components of this attraction in other attractions).

http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2000/12/31/279.aspx

Interesting read, thank you Titanfreak46. Kind of sad that it drove Marc Davis out of Imagineering. Poor Mr. Baxter.

Who gave you the right to dictate what ride goes to what park?

I think DCA would do well to have a Gold Rush ride. It's a major part of California's history and should be acknowledged. Old Sutters Mill and the like. And DCA is the park that needs more E-tickets, especially of PotC and HM's nature, not DL.

Frontierland really doesn't have to room to station a big attraction of WRE's nature...if the area gets a new ride I'd say it would have to be a small dark ride (using America's old folk tales), or perhaps a re-invention of Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland-or a combination of the two.

And yes, thank you for the video!