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USA Today
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
If you like theme parks, thank Disneyland
If you enjoy theme parks or any immersive themed experience, you have Disneyland to thank. 'Half of the stories that I tell that are not about Disneyland start with somebody went to Disneyland and then they came back home and they tried to build their own Disney,' said filmmaker and theme park historian Kevin Perjurer, whose pop culture channel Defunctland has more than 2 million followers on YouTube. 'Something as small as a regional laser tag place probably even has someone designing that has Disneyland or at least the quality of what an Imagineer would do on the mind.' That's because Disneyland defined what we know of as theme parks today. Here's how. Park history By no means was Disneyland the first amusement park or themed guest experience. Widely cited Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen opened in 1843, more than a century before Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955. Domestic parks like Luna Park on Coney Island and Beverly Park kiddieland in Los Angeles – which Perjurer notes had a western-themed section – also predated Disneyland. World's fairs had themed experiences, too. What set Disneyland apart was "really this concept of full immersion and a full themed experience connected with a storyline,' said Jakob Wahl, president and CEO of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. 'Creating those lands, which were kind of immersive in their own space, I think that is what Walt Disney then ultimately changed and drove to perfection.' At Disneyland, guests could step into stories they already knew and discover new ones dreamed up by Imagineers, like Disney Legend Bob Gurr, who designed ride vehicles for iconic attractions like Autopia, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Haunted Mansion and the Monorail. 'I was one of the first 18 people that was assigned by Walt to work specifically on the design of Disneyland,' he said. 'He always saw this as storytelling. Storytelling, you know you can draw a picture, it's a story. You can make a movie, it's a story ... or you can do it in 3D, call it an amusement park.' Disneyland's 70th anniversary: How the resort is celebrating happy Inspiration from films Bruce Vaughn, president and chief creative officer of Walt Disney Imagineering, said Walt Disney and the original Imagineers used filmmaking techniques to tell stories in the park's physical environment. 'There's cross dissolve, so it's a slow fade from the hub into Adventureland, where it isn't just a hard cut,' he explained. 'Or a long shot, like as you're going down Main Street, suddenly in the distance, there's this fantasy castle ... It draws you through.' The park's hub-and-spoke design has been copied by parks around the world, but the caliber of Disneyland's craftsmanship wasn't easily imitated. 'I mean, you're pulling upon some of the greatest illustrators, some of the greatest sculptors, all these people that were employed by Disney,' Perjurer said, highlighting how Disney was producing groundbreaking films like '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' as the park was being built. 'That film, the scenic design just blew people away, and so the ability to walk through something with that level of scenic design or even trying to accomplish the level of scenic design ... was definitely mind-blowing to people.' New technology Over the years, Disney Imagineers have pioneered many new ways to tell stories. Gurr remembers Walt Disney calling him into a workshop when the first audio animatronic of President Abraham Lincoln was being developed in secret. 'He said, 'Bobby, I want half as much weight and twice as many motions, and I want you to get started now,'' he said, adding that he never could cure Disney of calling him Bobby. That Lincoln audio animatronic went on to mesmerize audiences at the 1964 New York World's Fair before moving to Disneyland, where a new audio animatronic of Walt Disney just debuted during the resort's 70th anniversary celebration. Audio animatronics are now commonplace at theme parks around the world. Another innovation Disneyland guests can still experience today is the ride technology on Indiana Jones Adventure. 'Since it's an Indiana Jones story, it's got to feel like you're off road,' Vaughn said. 'So you had to put a simulator on top of a vehicle to give you the sense that you were going over all this terrain and that you were on a suspension bridge and then you dove down deeper than you actually did.' He described Imagineers as magicians more than technologists, helping guests suspend their disbelief, to embrace the magic like kids again. Guests who want to keep the magic going can stay on property at Disneyland's resort hotels. Wahl notes other destinations around the world have copied Disney's model of offering themed accommodations onsite. 'The destination or attraction evolves from a one-day visit to a multi-day experience,' he said. 'You can forget about the daily concerns, and people want to have that for a day, but they also want to have that for the night.' Listening to guests One thing Disneyland guests could not get past in the park's early days was the first-person format of some Fantasyland dark rides. 'Originally it was like a simulation where you were the main character of that story, and you were seeing a point of view, while the films were from a third-party perspective,' Perjurer said. 'You are Snow White. You are Peter Pan. You are Mr. Toad ... and so the characters weren't in the rides.' Those rides were reimagined to include the main characters of their respective stories. 'We had to kind of redesign a lot of details in the park to suit how people actually behave,' Gurr recalled, but that was OK. '(Disney) wasn't afraid to try to do things even though he didn't know how to do it, but he became pretty good at a lot of things.' Many other theme parks also offer what Vaughn calls book reports, rides recapping stories with condensed highlights. However, in a full circle moment, Disney's newer attractions again invite guests to become characters in stories, like at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. 'You get to pilot the Millennium Falcon,' Vaughn said. 'You're taken as a spy. And we know that that's where Walt was going. One thing I love about Walt Disney is that he was always about immersing into stories.' It's those experiential stories that have kept guests coming back for 70 years. In his Disneyland opening day remarks, Walt Disney said, 'Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.' Seventy years later, it's still doing that.
The Star
18-06-2025
- Politics
- The Star
PJ folk object to MRT3 alignment proposal
A PROPOSAL to bring the MRT3 alignment into parts of Petaling Jaya, Selangor, has drawn objections from some residents over health and environmental concerns. A town hall session was held in Section 14 by Bukit Gasing assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran to explain the proposal. Rajiv said he and Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung had worked with Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) to draw up the proposed route. According to a map displayed during the session, the proposed route cuts across Taman Jaya and Jalan Kemajuan next to Section 13 and Section 16 (refer to map). 'The proposal has been sent to the Federal Government but no decision has been made yet,' said Rajiv. 'The route will service two areas namely Section 13 and PJ Sentral, which have been seeing massive increase in commercial and industrial activities.' The assemblyman said the city needed more public transportation to cope with increased traffic and residents. 'More workers from other areas are coming into Petaling Jaya. It is better that they come by train than by car,' he stressed. However, some residents were unhappy with his explanation. Selva says the proposed alignment barely enters Section 13. Section 14 Residents Association chairman Selva Sugumaran Perumal said the proposed alignment barely entered Section 13. 'The route should go into Section 13 proper, as well as Section 17, to serve residents in those areas. 'Also, PJ Sentral is already served by (Asia Jaya and Taman Jaya) LRT stations. 'Why does it need more public transportation?' Selva also said that Rajiv, Chung and MBPJ should have consulted local communities before submitting the proposal to the Federal Government. D'Cruz is concerned about noise pollution. Another resident Andre D. D'Cruz, who lives near the Asia Jaya LRT station, expressed concern about noise. 'I have made complaints but they have not been addressed. 'Can the authorities guarantee similar issues won't recur if MRT3 is routed through this area?' he questioned. Other concerns raised were the loss of Petaling Jaya's green lung, while a suggestion was made to enhance feeder bus coverage and demand-responsive transit (DRT). Rajiv resplied that feeder buses and DRT could only go so far in alleviating traffic congestion in the city. He also stressed that there was a need to balance between environmental concerns and socioeconomic needs. On questions about the locations and sizes of the MRT3 stations, Rajiv said these would be finalised by MRT Corp later. Also known as Circle Line, the MRT3 alignment is a 51km rail loop cutting across major townships in the Klang Valley. The current alignment has 32 planned stations and does not include the locations in Rajiv's proposal. The project will be connected to 10 existing MRT, LRT, KTM and Monorail stations. It is expected to start in 2027 and be fully operational by 2032. MRT1 (Kajang Line) links Sungai Buloh and Kajang while MRT2 (Putrajaya Line) links Kwasa Damansara and Putrajaya Sentral.
Scottish Sun
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Inside abandoned Disney World airport with its own singing runway where planes are banned from landing
Planes are banned due to the park's White House-level restrictions GROUNDED Inside abandoned Disney World airport with its own singing runway where planes are banned from landing Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) AN ABANDONED Disney World airport once welcomed visitors into the heart of the Magic Kingdom with a musical runway - but planes are now banned from the area. Lake Buena Vista STOLPort was constructed in the early 1970s - with a runway which played When You Wish Upon a Star if pilots drove over it at the right pace. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up Hidden just off the road into Disney World, the stretch of tarmac literally sang when jets went over it at around 45mph. The small airport was made in 1971 to fly in Disney World guests and employees from Orlando International Airport and Tampa International Airport, on a journey that lasted just a few minutes, according to Culture Trip. For a short time, it was the only runway where you could fly directly into Disney's world-famous theme park. The only jets to ever fly into the incredible airport were part of a now-defunct airline called Shawnee. READ MORE TRAVEL NEWS GOOD CALL I used FREE mobile service that instantly boosted my 5G signal - anyone can do it The airport, which rests south of the Magic Kingdom park and north of Epcot, next to World Drive, was only big enough to operate four planes at a time. The runway was also reportedly used for high-ranking Disney company executives until as late as 2006. The concept was that the small airport would later be revamped into a much larger airport - but this idea never took off, and the fairytale flight service didn't last long before it was scrapped. Lake Buena Vista STOLport was ultimately closed in the 1980s after the theme park built a Monorail close to the runway. This meant planes were no longer able to land there safely. Ever since, the one-of-a-kind airport has been used as backstage storage. Bus drivers were even reportedly trained on the tarmac, where they revealed the bizarre musical feature of the singing airstrip. Tragically, the musical grooves were removed in 2008 - though the airport still stands. There is actually another bizarre reason no planes are allowed to land there today. And it is because Disney World actually has the same airspace protections as the White House. The park has a special "no-fly zone" called TFR 9/4985, which it was given shortly after 9/11. This means no planes can fly low or land over attractions such as Cinderella's castle - much to the annoyance of Florida pilots. Disney has even tried to bend the rule too. They recently applying for permission to fly their own drones in the zone. Planes aren't the only things that no longer exist at Disney World - mosquitoes have also been banned. Disney has a comprehensive programme for keeping the park mozzie-free, which is called the Mosquito Surveillance Programme. But while the airspace is locked down tight, the legend of Disney's once musical runway still lives on.
Wall Street Journal
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
Alf Clausen, ‘The Simpsons' Composer Who Wrote Songs in the Key of Springfield, Dies at 84
When the residents of Springfield gathered to discuss how to spend the $3 million Mr. Burns was forced to pay the city for dumping nuclear waste into a local park, Marge Simpson suggested it go toward something sensible—filling potholes. But a slick salesman entranced the audience with another idea: 'The Springfield Monorail.' Putting his pitch to song, he had the whole town singing: 'Monorail! Monorail! Monorail!' Marge's objections didn't stand a chance. 'But Main Street's still all cracked and broken!' 'Sorry, mom,' Bart quipped, 'the mob has spoken.' 'Marge vs. the Monorail,' a classic episode of 'The Simpsons,' was written by Conan O'Brien, just before he made the jump to his late-night talk show, but the 'Music Man'-inspired song was penned by Alf Clausen, the composer for the bulk of the series. His work was central to the animated show's DNA.
Los Angeles Times
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
LA Times Today: He worked with Walt Disney to shape Disneyland. Now at 93, boy, does he have stories
If you've ever ridden Disneyland's Matterhorn Bobsleds or climbed aboard the Monorail, then you're already familiar with the work of legendary Disney Imagineer Bob Gurr. Best known as the man behind many of Disneyland's most iconic rides, Gurr played a key role in creating the magic at the Magic Kingdom. And at 93, he's still got more horsepower than most of the attractions he built.
