Revolucion

Tatsu and Goliath are definitely don't miss rides that are rider friendly. Revolution is a classic that has seen better days. The OTS restraints really need to be redesigned. I stopped going to Magic Mountain for several years because I always seemed to have a massive headache after several hours. On my visit for WCB last month I purposely avoided Revolution and other "head bashers" and managed to go headache free for the whole day.

I really hope they put a great restaurant on Samarai Summit. Four Winds could be successful if they brought it back, but a new over-the-top restaurant (think Blue Bayou or Mythos) could be a home run. One obstacle to success for a hilltop restaurant will be the lack of easy access. Hopefully park management has included transportation for the back side of the hill in the five-year plan.

I was being sarcastic. The scrap value is probably mid to high five figures, but it still probably doesn't come close to covering the cost of removal.

Revenue=Tickets, Parking, Merchandise, Food Sales Expenses=Labor, Overhead, Cost of Food, Cost of Merchandise Revenue minus Expenses=Operating Income Other Expenses=Depreciation, Amortization, Taxes, One-Time Write Offs Operating Income - Other Expenses = Net Income Though revenue is up, my guess is that expenses (particularly other expenses) are WAY up. The removal of all those rides resulted in one-time write-offs. It's pretty expensive to remove a ride. Maybe Jay will chime in and tell us it cost to remove Flashback & Psyclone, but my guess is hundreds of thousands of dollars for big roller coasters. The good news is that a coaster like Flashback can produce $50.00 of scrap metal to offset the cost of removal. The bad news is that Psyclone is probably considered toxic waste--modern wooden roller coasters are pressure treated with toxic chemicals as a fire retardant. Depreciation and amortization are annual expenses for one-time costs (like a roller coaster) that is deducted over the "useful life". The number to watch is operating income, and I hope that number is way up for the year. The 19% increase in attendance is a good sign, but the article attributes that to Spring Break.

Here's an article about the Matterhorn climbers and a related tidbit on how Walt made a Mountain out of a snow hill. One of these climbers was lured away later that same year to climb Bobsled at Nara Dreamland.

Disneyland has had an annual employee scavenger hunt at the park since the late 80's. Each year usually has had in theme -- in 1993 it was Minnie's 60th Birthday. The winning team was *really* good that year. Almost as good as the team that won the year before: Bruce Gordon and David Mumford.

I know that Disneyland's least crowded day from June-August is Sunday. I heard that Wednesdays at MM during the summer are to be avoided like Flashback.

Next headline "LU Student expelled for riding the 'Wacky Worm' with 300 different guys"

In the latter half of the 80's Disneyland experimented with special event promotions to increase attendence in the off-season. The first of the three promotions was Circus Fantasy. I'll dig out info on State Fair and Blast to the Past another time. The article doesn't mention a little known fact about the Human Cannonball: when the demolition crews were unsuccessful in destroying the House of the Future, the Human Cannonball was brought in to finish the job. I included the classified ads because of two items of interest. 1) I couldn't help adding "Ask for Cruella". 2) Do you think this guy bought an HD-DVD so he wouldn't get screwed by Sony again? Is that a bear riding a bicycle? I think this act was at the gateway to Tomorrowland at the end of the PeopleMover midway. My recollection is that the PeopleMover was shut down for Circus Fantasy. For at least one of the years of Circus Fantasy, the "Globe of Death" was placed in Central Plaza where the statue of Walt and Mickey is now.

In keeping with the Skyway theme here's some magical Tiki goodness. I included this page for Orange Countians out there. In 1988 the employee picnic was at a HUGE park on Jamboree at the 405. It's now a bunch of 15-story highrise offices and condos. I thought Danny Kay had the original F Ticket. Bad bird! This is a brand new suit...

I was going through a box of Disneyland employee stuff at my house and found some interesting stuff. Here's my first of several posts. Look who's putting the magic in the Magic Kingdom. Imagination! The Skyway cable jumped off a wheel around 1991 due to bouncing kids. Everything north of the Skyway was evacuated and guests were removed via cherry picker over several hours. Freedomland in the Bronx had a sky ride with two sets of cables to increase ride capacity. Why does the Matterhorn have holes? Because it's Swiss!

There used to be a White Castle in Fountain Valley, CA near Mile Square Park. It closed around 1986ish. They really are more of a Midwest Chain: Although as you can see, you can get the burgers in the freezer section of most retail grocery stores and the experience is almost the same! --Robb

I have faith, man. I worked at the rat factory during my college years (with Robb before he became a famous celebrity!). I was not only blown away by the progress that the park has made WCB but also the great management team. I hope that you continue to get support from headquarters to keep the momentum and can't wait to see what happens in '09. There are fifteen pages of venting about the lockers because it really strikes a nerve with many people. When I first experienced mandatory lockers at Universal Hollywood on the Mummy I was angry until I realized it was free. It's not logical, just human nature. The average day guest to SFMM probably pays about $40 and goes on about 10 rides during a visit. In essence they are paying $4 per ride. If you let people into the park for free and charged $4 per ride then park attendance would plummet. Why? The end result is the same either way. The difference is *perceived* value rather than *actual* value. The perception that the lockers are a ripoff is going to be an ongoing problem and will need to be solved through ingenuity or education. Your customers don't intuitively know that the driving force behind the lockers is to make lines move more quickly. The park doesn't offer free package pick-up out of kindess. The unstated reason it's offered is to sell more merchandise! It's still a great service because it increases customer satisfaction. Season pass holders are heavy-users who should know better than to lug loose articles around the park. If only there were a way to give day guests two or three free locker uses with a paid one-day admission... ...but *please* don't rip out any more flat rides. I know capacity is an important issue, but a lot of the rides that give Disneyland its atmosphere have a low capacity like canoes, Dumbo and the Main Street vehicles. Keep on groovin' and keep on doin' it right. Viva la revolucion!

I have to agree with Robb's perception. Speaking as a general guest who went to SFMM for the first time in five years for WCB, the management has earned credibility with the tangible changes they have successfully made. It's clearly not lip service. I worked at Disneyland in college and was *extremely impressed* at the changes I saw at WCB from my last visit in 2003. I hope Mark Shapiro continues to support the renewal of Magic Mountain. Disneyland went through a similar renewal after Eisner, Pressler, and Harriss were replaced by Iger and Ouimet. The $6M that was sunk into the new trains speaks for itself. I think the park's general success does not hinge on whether or not three trains are running when X2 opens.

I would much rather see them fix some of the coasters they already have. Revolution is a fantastic coaster with horrible restraints that give me a headache if I ride it. I would think that the restraints could be fixed for under a few hundred thousand dollars. The marketing angle is this: Management does not realize the number of people whose day is made far less enjoyable because they have a headache from riding Viper and Revolution. One of the reasons I haven't made it a point to go to MM for five years is that the last few times I went I had a headache that sort of ruined the rest of my day. For a cost of less than $0.10 or so per rider the park would add $0.50 of value. The design could also probably be modified to use on other coasters at other Six Flags parks. My *wife* cares about the *atmosphere* (cleanliness, gang bangers, etc.) *I* want rides to enjoy with my children; Ninja, Gold Rusher, Buccaneer are all rides that add to the family experience and take nothing away. Those rides are all "Family Friendly". The rationale for removing Psyclone was right on the money--Psyclone took away more from the general guest experience than it added and was a drain on resources in operational costs. I think removing the Sierra Twist was a mistake. It didn't have a high capacity, but it could be operated with one employee and was a good simple family ride. Unless it was extremely expensive to maintain I don't see the point of removing it. I would change my mind if I found out that labor and maintenance cost $5 per rider, but l doubt it was over $1. The canoes at Disneyland probably cost about $2 per rider to operate after factoring in the labor, maintenance, and indirect costs. But they have great intangible value: the visual excitement of seeing the Rivers of America bustling with activity, the slight increase in guest experience for Mark Twain riders when a canoe passes them, and the interactive element for the rider. The low capacity of a few hundred people also offsets the high cost per rider. The park would achieve more goals by building coasters with wide appeal. Adding an extreme coaster more than once every three or four years doesn't make sense if the park wants to bring in more families.

Stricker's Grove could be missing out on an opportunity to make a little extra money by charging $20 for a ride on each of the coasters subject to specific rules (i.e. there could be a VERY small time window on operating days of the fifteen minutes after the private picnic is over). Obviously, the price point would need to be enough that it is too much for locals but low enough to appeal to coaster enthusiasts who don't have flexibility in scheduling their vacations to the public days. The difference is that the Disneyland private parties on Fridays were after normal operating hours. Presumably, Elitch Gardens had the park hours on their website and telephone recorded message. I know Holiday World makes it very clear on their operating calander which days they are closed to the public.

The landing tower for Tinker Bell used to have a special mattress for her to crash into. Before Big Thunder was built I think she landed in Nature's Wonderland on the ground. There's a trap door built into the top of the Matterhorn. Some costuming girls told me that one of them in particular was a super diva. Now that is quite the job, sliding down a zip line hundreds of feet in the air. Sounds worse than window washing, IMHO

Would it be feasible to install a special boosters to push the sled "over the hump"? I guess the booster would need some sort of manual override switch to be powered on after an e-stop. Even a small motorized wench would probably be practical. When Pirates got new bateaux in the late 80's they had to temporarily staff a position at Drop 2 because the boats repeatedly got stuck. The eventual solution someone came up with was to add a slingshot mechanism that would push boats over the drop. After 30 years of double sleds you would think that the park engineers would come up with a solution for difficult stop zones on the Matterhorn. Ever since it became an ACE landmark I hear the sleds are much harder to push. I was at the park today and it looks like they took off that stupid little teacup handle that was added when they plugged up the Skyway holes. When did they take that out?

By the way, "Snow Mountain" was basically the dumping ground for the soil removed from the Rivers of America, Canal Boats, and Phantom Boats. When the Matterhorn was built they leveled off the top, but the Matterhorn was basically built over Snow Mountain. I wonder where the name Snow Mountain came from. It wasn't very snowy! There were walking trails for guests that were added at some point. AlpenHerr, isn't each bobsled now weighed to determine the proper dispatch interval automatically? What was the theoretical hourly capacity before and after the 1978 redo? I know the Haunted Mansion tracks are pressurized, so I assume all tubular coaster track is pressurized to detect leaks at joints. Was this innovation first used on the Matterhorn? What about the new sleds?

The Tomorrowland side is definitely a better ride. The drop facing the Subs lagoon is called "Dolly's Drop" by employees; Dolly Young had the misfortune of getting ejected at this drop and was run over by the next car. A cast member who helped evacuate the ride told me her head was pushed partially into her body cavity by the car. Guests leave thousands of dollars of change on the ride annually. The leftover change has funded many amenities for the employee break area (to the left of the lift). Most of the funds collected are donated to Guide Dogs of the Desert. Up until the 90's the Matterhorn had no height requirement; just an age requirement of three. That 40 pounds of trouble couldn't go on the Matterhorn today! Did anyone else notice that in the 40 pounds movie the sign read "Tom Sawyer's Island"? I wonder when they took away the possesive 's'? Before there was a Matterhorn it was called Snow Mountain. Vintage pictures below: It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas. I feel sorry for the mountain climbers that had to lug that thing to the top. Circa 1958 from TL Skyway station facing current site of Matterhorn. Circa 1955. No Matterhorn. No hotel. One autopia. Snow Mountain! Taken from TL side facing Fantasyland. Dolly's Drop from the roof of the Yacht Bar Under Construction in 1958. Taken from current site of TL Terrace.

The ride layout for DL Haunted Mansion and DLP Phantom Manor are virtually identical. Even the employee break room is in the same location. DL has 131 ride vehicles and DLP has 130 ride vehicles. DLP has different show pieces and soundtrack. As I recall DLP PM is built all above ground; DL HM is about 5 feet below ground level. I think Tokyo is a clone of WDW, but I'm not sure about HK. >>The Phantom Manor one was nice and pretty fun, though if the show in the elevator was much longer it'd make it a bit harder and more realistic. It's definitely accurate >>in spirit to the real thing, where the capacity is limited by the buggies in 2-elevator operation. I'm assuming PM is like the WDW Mansion, where the elevators are just >>ceilings and not actual elevators like Disneyland?

The train was replaced by Z-Force (I think it used the old station). Z-Force was replaced by Batman. The sky coaster replaced the spilliken corners theater. What incident caused Colussus to be reprofiled the first time? What was the name of the fun house? In what movie was the Crazy Barrels ride the primary location of a scene? What is the difference in elevation between the entrance of the Sky Tower and Scream? (I don't know--I'm curious to know if somebody else knows). Does anybody of pictures of the kinetic fountain that used to be in the middle of Spilliken Corners?

The Disney Dining Plan was an okay deal before they changed it this year, but now its a ripoff. Tips are no longer included. An automatic gratuity of 18% is paid out of pocket. If you are staying on property for your entire visit but spending more than a day or two off property at IOA or Sea World you are going to be hard pressed to squeeze in all of your dining coupons. Loss of flexibility because you end up spending more time than you otherwise might in restaurants and getting to reservations. The bottom line is that you *might* save a *few* dollars with the dining plan, but are more likely to spend a *lot* more because you order extra food to get your money's worth. Disney advertises a savings of 30%...what they don't tell you is that the advertised savings is based on getting the most expensive item on the menu at the most expensive restaurant, but usually I don't get the most expensive item on the menu. I went in December of 2007 and spent an average of $40/day per person on food. We ate one table service meal each day and one or two quick service. If you like pot roast I really liked Liberty Tree Tavern's. Prime Time Cafe has gone downhill--I don't recommend it. The quick service pizza place at AK was good. For a special treat Victoria & Albert's is wonderful. We didn't go this time because we had the kids, but have enjoyed it in the past. Each course is a work of art. Mythos at IOA was great--I don't recommend the pork, however.

The policy should be 30 minutes. I don't know what most parks use as a policy, but that was Disneyland's (and probably still is). I think water coaster or bobsled coaster would be a nice family addition. The next coaster at MM should definitely be a ride for the whole family. I would be stoked if the 5-year plan included a new troll land with a dark ride in the style of Knott's Bear-y Tales. An omnimover type system can have an hourly capacity approaching 2,000 (The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland is about 2,400 with both stretching rooms operating). Have they fixed up the side of the Magic Moments Theater yet? I noticed at WCB that some of the curtains on the false windows were literally falling apart. I would also love to see Colossus race again (on high attendance days). Even though because of the ride design the same side always wins I think racing adds a lot of excitement. It would be interesting to see how guest satisfaction ratings would compare between one train versus two train racing. From an operations standpoint I would think it would be inexpensive to put in a variable-speed chainlift.

I'm not 100% sure of the exact name, but I think it was called "The Turtle". It was a self-propelled vehicle for kids that they also sold at that location. I think it was only there for one season. Perhaps somebody came down from Samarai Summit to make some turtle soup. I found something online that is similar if not the same: The Flying Turtle! (Wild child not included)