Changes to Pirates?

Check out this article from Miceage.com.  Seems there are some changes coming to Pirates of the Carribean for the holidays...

"Well, it had to eventually happen. With Christmas becoming the most important season for Disneyland in terms of attendance and sales, it was time to add another holiday attraction makeover to the list in order to have something new to market this year. Add to that project the latest in NexGen technology, and you have enough going on to fuel discussion boards for years.


So open up a can of that eggnog and slice yourself off a piece of that fruitcake and bear witness to what happens when some political capital is spent.

A series of meetings have been taking place in TDA about the upcoming holiday season. While the stale Christmas parade could use a major makeover, what research proves sells more tickets and merchandise best is another attraction holiday makeover. With the two Lucas attractions off-limits (no star tours holiday special I guess) and the coasters not quite providing an ideal environment for the new RFID/NexGen initiative that pretty much leaves only one attraction.

As it stands now Pirates of the Caribbean will be scheduled to close after the July 4 weekend to begin its transformation into Christmas in the Caribbean. The reason for the early closure is simple, besides Steve Davison just draping garland and lights all over the sets, Imagineering has been busy perfecting a new interactive technology that literally makes the traditional shop at the exit obsolete. But more on that later...

As you can probably imagine, any changes to a classic ride are always controversial. While the Christmas efforts tend to be less so due to their temporary nature, in this case the suits in TDA are doing everything they can to defuse the expected criticism, even bringing in former Imagineering head Marty Sklar out of retirement to help their cause. They're going to claim that Walt Disney himself dreamed up Christmas in the Caribbean while he was still alive and Marty will present proof of such, a cocktail napkin sketch recently unearthed from the Walt Disney Company archives. (Of course a limited quantity archive edition framed napkin reproduction will be available via the Disney Store’s online D23 shop for $400.)

Davison used the sketch to inspire his holiday makeover of the ride, commenting to the many people involved how easy this project was compared to his previous efforts. For example it doesn't take much to turn the pirate bedroom scene into Santa checking his list for who is naughty or nice, getting the donkey to sing Christmas carols along with the three wise men, or toss in a few wrapped presents into the treasure room. Throw up some leftover Osborne lights and voilà you have an instant Christmas themed attraction.

Did we mention the treasure room? That's where the most controversial changes in the ride will be made, spearheaded by Kim Irvine, head of the new Character Redeployment Attraction Program for all the Parks. Inspired by her success in placing unrelated Disney characters into the small world attraction a few years ago, she has decided to do the same in the Pirates treasure room. What visitors will see for the first time this year is the second part of what she had planned originally for the attraction which will make its debut in the Christmas Pirates makeover.

First developed for small world holiday as Stop & Shop (to be installed later this year there), Christmas in the Caribbean will debut a variation on it called Spot & Shop. As visitors board their boats they will be handed a toy spyglass with a special red button. As their boats make their way through the attraction riders will be invited to spot merchandise items strategically placed throughout with their spyglass and push the red button when they see something they want to purchase.

With each button push the item will be instantly charged to their credit card, packaged up and then handed to the rider as he exits the attraction. The “point & shop” technology was exhaustively tested on both the Toy Story Mania and Buzz Lightyear attractions and they will also offer shopping opportunities later next year.

For small world Stop & Shop will pull the boat over to the side of the track each time a rider calls out a character name, whereupon a cast member will pop out from behind the scenery, hand over the item and bill their credit card for it immediately. As the suits in TDA see it, visitors will be happier that they don't have to wait in long lines at the shops, and corporate will be pleased to finally make attractions personnel into revenue producers.

There's still a few glitches being worked out, Steve Davison is insisting that in order to get the full effect of the makeover, boats should only have the center three rows loaded for optimal viewing which of course means reduced capacity. Discussions are also ongoing about replacing the redhead in the auction scene with Miley Cyrus, (Tony Baxter is particularly keen on this), and John Lasseter repeatedly keeps asking for Cars characters to be introduced into the attraction. (He turned down a compromise from Imagineering to name all the boats after all the characters in the film.)

There have been discussions to have the Johnny Depp figures discuss the wonders of 3-D television and Blu-Ray discs, but those negotiations are ongoing with his management. Meanwhile the PR machine is already in full gear to deal with the expected online backlash, Heather Buick Rivera from the Disney parks blog is planning to deny everything as she gets in place a viral DoM campaign, DoM being short for Defenders of Magic.

Christmas in the Caribbean opens November 5, 2010." -AL (Miceage.com)

Happy April Fool's Day!!!

Did You Know?

Disney Cast Members have a dress code. Here are some interesting facts:

• Male park employees were not allowed to have facial until 2000 when Disneyland officials changed the rules to allow male cast members to have facial hair as long as they were neatly trimmed. Some observant Disney devotees may notice that Walt Disney had a mustache, yet it took 45 years before cast members at Disneyland were able to follow in his footsteps. The growth process of the mustaches, however, must not be seen; it is specified that mustaches must be grown while the cast member is on vacation.

• Female cast members may wear small stud earrings or smaller hoop earrings; men may wear no earrings. Long fingernails are prohibited, as are dirty ones or nails painted in a color that is not natural. All cast members' hair must be of a natural color; looking natural even if it is not actually the cast member's natural color. Makeup must be only on women, minimal, and natural-looking. Visible tattoos are expressly forbidden.

• The philosophy behind the cast members' dress code has not changed much - the "Disney Look" is to ensure that each and every guest feels comfortable around each and every Disneyland cast member. This consideration extends farther than simple appearance. All Disneyland cast members must point with two fingers or their whole hand, as pointing with one finger may be considered rude to some guests.

• The rules are obviously different for cast members who play a specific character. "Face characters" may have different makeup or hair requirements to fully implement the appearance of the character they are portraying. "Mask characters," the cast members who are completely covered in a costume and whose actual face is not seen, may not speak.

• All Disneyland cast members wear a costume that is specific to their particular "land." They are not allowed to visit the public parts of the other lands, or sections of Disneyland, in their costumes. This helps retain the feeling that guests are in a magical place, where nothing at all is out of order or unrelated to the theme. No safari costumes from Adventureland will turn up in Tomorrowland to jolt guests out of their happy illusions.

Here is some interesting information about the dress code for Disneyland guests:

• During the 1950's and early 1960's men with long hair were not allowed inside the park. Disneyland cast members would politely explain to the snubbed guests that Disneyland had an unwritten dress code, which they did not meet. Sometimes women in halter tops were turned away as well.

Here are some pictures of people we feel should be "turned away" at the gate:

We saw this woman on our last trip to the park.  She was also wearing a red necklace.  This is our picture.  All others are from the internet.

Santa Claus on vacation waiting for the Haunted Mansion

Really?

I know, Seal and Heidi Klum... No adults should have face painting done at the park... EVER!!!

"You're out, Auf wiedersehen!"

We think kids are the only ones who can get away with wearing costumes in the park.  Even then, they look very uncomfortable.

WOW!!!You are very brave!