[Question] A few random questions and photo requests

[Semiquaver]

The ImagiNations 2010 deadline is coming up and my group and I are plugging away at our submission in which we're imagineering and entire new land. It was originally a bluesky concept, but we're currently working it as an alternative FL expansion since it just fits so perfectly. We could use some help for reference from MCers. Even answering one question would help!

First, the photo requests. If anyone happens to have them, we would really appreciate clear photos of :

• the Journey into Imagination with Figment ride vehicles
• Barnstormer pics that give an idea of the overall layout and the queue, not show elements.
• PhilharMagic interior building shots. Some of the queue might be needed but we're looking for good shots of the theater and the exit shop.

Now for the questions:
1. Which outline in this picture encompasses only PhilharMagic? Red, Blue or something else?


2. How much time is needed between shows for the Country Bears to get everyone out and then the new audience in? Is this timing similar for the 3-D shows?

3. Why were the Swan Boats closed? Where did they travel and how long did it take to take the trip?Answered: The swan boats were apparently just closed down due to maintenance costs. The route started from the dock by Tomorrowland and traveled clockwise around the Hub canal. The boats would then travel into adventure land and loop around the Treehouse and return to the Hub, continuing their clockwise journey. The trip took about 17 minutes. There were no tracks to guide the boats, but there was a live spiel. Source: http://www.omniluxe.net/wyw/psb.htm

4. Is there or has there been any places in the MK with live bands and dancing like Carnation Plaza and Tomorrowland terrace at Disneyland? Was DtD supposed to take it out of the parks and put it in a more public place?

5. How much time does a guest get for typical character interactions when there's a long line? How long do lines get for popular characters like Mickey in the height of summer?

6. What's the typical wait time for the E-tickets in the MK on busy days?

7. Is there any walk-around entertainment (i.e. strolling musicians/bands, street improv) left in the MK? Is it an 'only on busy days' kind of thing?

8. Hypothetical question: If Fantasyland was expanded all the way back to the railroad tracks would fallout from the fireworks close down anything? This is a similar area to iasw in Disneyland, which sometimes does get closed due to fallout. What if there was a tall facade (not the size of the castle, but maybe the size of the DL castle 100ft or so) back there due north of Dumbo's current location? If there are closures would it be reasonable to expect Disney to reconfigure the fireworks so this grand expansion could remain open during them?

9. Would a coaster that is nearly all indoors but has a short outdoor segment be forced to close down in inclement Florida weather(i.e. a thunderstorm)?

10. Any mention of if the utilidors will be expanded with the Princessland FL expansion?
Answered: Looking closer at the blueprints, there appears to be one underground tunnel between the Cinderela/Pooh/Aurora grouping and the backstage area behind Belle's meet and greet

Anything would help. I'll post more questions here if we come up with any.

Edited to add some info to the ones with definitive answers found other than in somewhere in this thread.

Thanks guys!

[Semiquaver]

Re: A few random questions and photo requests

Bumping this back to the first page. Any well reasoned guesses or rumors on the questions would be greatly appreciated too!

#1 is the most pressing. I want to say that the red outline is all of the Philharmagic, since I envision the HoP and the equipment to run it as pretty massive. I haven't been in there, so this is just guessing.

[Figment Fan]

Re: A few random questions and photo requests

I am not going to pretend to know the answers to all of your questions, but I will try and answer some to the best of my knowledge.

1. PhilharMagic is pretty big inside. Looking at the two outlines, and from being inside the show area/ queue areas, I'm thinking it is the blue outline.

2. With PhilharMagic, the new crowd is coming in as the old crowd is going out, so the time to get everyone seated and unseated is minimal. I would say about three to five minutes depending on how slow people move and settle down. As for shows like the Country Bears, I think it is almost similar, but I believe they get everyone completely out right the new group is let in. Same with the Tiki Room. The shows pretty much run back to back, only seating and exits in between. In that case, I would say about five to seven minutes. These are just guesses though.

3. I have no clue about the swan boats.

4. I've never really seen any live bands or dancing at MK, but there is the stage in Tomorrowland that is a potential stage (for shows outside of Halloween and Christmas dance parties). As I said before, I've never really seen any of those things going on outside of the two seasonal parties.

5. People are technically allowed as much time as they want with the characters. The length of the line really isn't supposed to have any impact on interaction time for each guest. It really all depends on the character attendant, and if the character's time "on stage" is up. The characters are in a union, and they are required to leave the stage on schedule, not a minute later. So the character attendant has to wrap things up in those cases, but otherwise the guest is supposed to have as much time as they want. However, that doesn't mean character attendants will not rush people. They aren't supposed to, but I'm sure some of them do. As for how long the lines get, I'm not certain, as I have never really paid attention to how long the lines get in the summer.

6. I've seen SM at 110 minutes, and that was actually on Friday, which isn't really totally busy yet. It is picking up for the holidays though. Supposedly, TSMM can get over two hours as well. Splash Mountain can get really busy too. I've never seen PotC with such short lines, but recently I've been able to pretty much walk right through the queue and onto the boat that is waiting there. Anyone know why it is so empty?

7. Although you seem to have questions focused on MK, I will note that at AK, there is a guy who will sing songs about your kids, based on their names, wandering around Camp Minnie-Mickey. And at DHS there are constantly little shows going on in the streets, but they aren't really wandering. In TL at MK there is the garbage can (can't think of his name) that interacts with people. The other day he asked a kid for his ice cream, and the kid just shoved it right into him. The garbage can led him into the ice cream shop and got him a new one. I have seen very limited street performers at MK recently. I'm not sure if they are gearing up for the holidays, or if they are reviving this feature. I can't remember what all they were though, but they are there.

8. I'm not totally sure what you are asking here. However, if I am correct then I can say nothing closes down for fireworks other than the walkway through the castle and... I believe the pathways along the side of the castle do too. I don't think anything else closes down for fireworks.

9. I think it still would close down. Test Track closes down, and the outdoor segment is rather brief, although important. Splash Mountain doesn't because it is a water ride, so who cares if you get wet, right?

10. I'm not sure what the utilidoors are, let alone if they will be expanded.

Hope this helps you a bit.

[Semiquaver]

Re: A few random questions and photo requests

[...]

Hope this helps you a bit.

Thank you, it does!

I've been flip-flopping between the different sizes for Philharmagic so it's good to hear some other opinions! I am probably thinking HoP is much bigger than it really is.

Most everything else jives with what we were guessing.

#8 was a hypothetical question, and and reworded it. Utilidors are the service tunnels underneath the MK.

[Figment Fan]

Re: A few random questions and photo requests

Ah, glad I could help. As for the utilidors, now that I know what they are, I am assuming they would be expanded as it would be strange to have one section of the park be completely different in terms of the functions of the utilidors.

As I said before, I don't think they close anything down due to the fireworks. Adding in the clarification of the fallout, I still don't think they close anything down. I'm assuming nothing would be closed down in the future either due to the fallout.

[BANANAZ]

Re: A few random questions and photo requests

I am not going to pretend to know the answers to all of your questions, but I will try and answer some to the best of my knowledge.

1. PhilharMagic is pretty big inside. Looking at the two outlines, and from being inside the show area/ queue areas, I'm thinking it is the blue outline.

2. With PhilharMagic, the new crowd is coming in as the old crowd is going out, so the time to get everyone seated and unseated is minimal. I would say about three to five minutes depending on how slow people move and settle down. As for shows like the Country Bears, I think it is almost similar, but I believe they get everyone completely out right the new group is let in. Same with the Tiki Room. The shows pretty much run back to back, only seating and exits in between. In that case, I would say about five to seven minutes. These are just guesses though.

3. I have no clue about the swan boats.

4. I've never really seen any live bands or dancing at MK, but there is the stage in Tomorrowland that is a potential stage (for shows outside of Halloween and Christmas dance parties). As I said before, I've never really seen any of those things going on outside of the two seasonal parties.

5. People are technically allowed as much time as they want with the characters. The length of the line really isn't supposed to have any impact on interaction time for each guest. It really all depends on the character attendant, and if the character's time "on stage" is up. The characters are in a union, and they are required to leave the stage on schedule, not a minute later. So the character attendant has to wrap things up in those cases, but otherwise the guest is supposed to have as much time as they want. However, that doesn't mean character attendants will not rush people. They aren't supposed to, but I'm sure some of them do. As for how long the lines get, I'm not certain, as I have never really paid attention to how long the lines get in the summer.

6. I've seen SM at 110 minutes, and that was actually on Friday, which isn't really totally busy yet. It is picking up for the holidays though. Supposedly, TSMM can get over two hours as well. Splash Mountain can get really busy too. I've never seen PotC with such short lines, but recently I've been able to pretty much walk right through the queue and onto the boat that is waiting there. Anyone know why it is so empty?

7. Although you seem to have questions focused on MK, I will note that at AK, there is a guy who will sing songs about your kids, based on their names, wandering around Camp Minnie-Mickey. And at DHS there are constantly little shows going on in the streets, but they aren't really wandering. In TL at MK there is the garbage can (can't think of his name) that interacts with people. The other day he asked a kid for his ice cream, and the kid just shoved it right into him. The garbage can led him into the ice cream shop and got him a new one. I have seen very limited street performers at MK recently. I'm not sure if they are gearing up for the holidays, or if they are reviving this feature. I can't remember what all they were though, but they are there.

8. I'm not totally sure what you are asking here. However, if I am correct then I can say nothing closes down for fireworks other than the walkway through the castle and... I believe the pathways along the side of the castle do too. I don't think anything else closes down for fireworks.

9. I think it still would close down. Test Track closes down, and the outdoor segment is rather brief, although important. Splash Mountain doesn't because it is a water ride, so who cares if you get wet, right?

10. I'm not sure what the utilidoors are, let alone if they will be expanded.

Hope this helps you a bit.

And to add on to number 7, I've seen performers playing instruments at DHS, and the talking trash can is named Push. There is also a talking Palm Tree at DAK named Wes Palm. I don't know if he's still there though. He wasn't working when we went there last summer. Can anyone tell me if he is?

[WDW Monorail]

Re: Help Please!

8. Hypothetical question: If Fantasyland was expanded all the way back to the railroad tracks would fallout from the fireworks close down anything? This is a similar area to iasw in Disneyland, which sometimes does get closed due to fallout. What if there was a tall facade (not the size of the castle, but maybe the size of the DL castle 100ft or so) back there due north of Dumbo's current location? If there are closures would it be reasonable to expect Disney to reconfigure the fireworks so this grand expansion could remain open during them?

If the attraction has an emergency exit backstage, then it would have to be closed for the duration of the show. When Disney changed safety radius rules before Wishes, the largest shell size had to be reduced to 10". A 12" shell would require the closure of IaSW and the HM because of their backstage exits.
I don't know where any new buildings, if any, will be built. I'm not following the expansion and don't really care for it since I think it is unnecessary. However, future shows may have to take things like this in to consideration and we might have smaller shows in the future.

[Semiquaver]

Re: Help Please!

If the attraction has an emergency exit backstage, then it would have to be closed for the duration of the show. When Disney changed safety radius rules before Wishes, the largest shell size had to be reduced to 10". A 12" shell would require the closure of IaSW and the HM because of their backstage exits.
I don't know where any new buildings, if any, will be built. I'm not following the expansion and don't really care for it since I think it is unnecessary. However, future shows may have to take things like this in to consideration and we might have smaller shows in the future.

Hmm, that could be problematic. Our design plans call for open guest walkways extending a bit further north than the current iasw and HM backstage areas. We'll probably have to mention a change in the fireworks then. Thanks for the info! :thumbup:

[aimster]

Re: A few random questions and photo requests

4. Is there or has there been any places in the MK with live bands and dancing like Carnation Plaza and Tomorrowland terrace at Disneyland? Was DtD supposed to take it out of the parks and put it in a more public place?
The restaurant now known as Cosmic Ray's in Tomorrowland has had live music (no I don't mean Sonny Eclipse) in the past. They have a stage that rises up like Tomorrowland Terrace at Disneyland. Sonny Eclipse is on top, but when the stage rises, he goes up and out of view. I guess they still sometimes use it for Magic Music Days, but I could be wrong.

5. How much time does a guest get for typical character interactions when there's a long line? How long do lines get for popular characters like Mickey in the height of summer?
I'd say maybe 5 minutes. Sometimes I feel like I'm being rushed through the line though.

6. What's the typical wait time for the E-tickets in the MK on busy days?
Depends on the ride. Peter Pan, which isn't even an "E" ticket has typical 45+ minute waits every day, whereas right around the corner, Haunted Mansion will have a 15 minute wait.

7. Is there any walk-around entertainment (i.e. strolling musicians/bands, street improv) left in the MK? Is it an 'only on busy days' kind of thing?
There's the characters on Main Street and the Dapper Dans but I think that's it.

[Semiquaver]

Re: A few random questions and photo requests

Thanks aimster. I had no idea about Cosmic Ray's and had never heard of Sonny Eclipse. It looks like they do use that stage for Magic Music Days, although probably just for smaller groups like jazz bands.
Thanks again!