Editor's Note: Al Lutz has a new update today on Mice Age, with lots of news about DCA and Disneyland, so don't miss it!

Want to know what really happened at DCA? Read my update at the bottom of the article about the drunk guy pepper sprayed in front of TOT entrance.

America at its worst

You've probably read - if not seen the video - about this drunken guy at Disney's California Adventure punching in the face twice a DCA cast member while he is repeatedly pepper-sprayed by the CM! If not, you can watch it below. All this happened Feb 20, in front of the Tower of Terror entrance. Other guests can be seen/heard shouting or laughing at the guy and eventually pinned the man to the ground, while the man was heard saying: “Let go. You’re gonna kill me.”




Everything is ugly in this four minutes scene and if you ask me what i think about it, here it is: i think that everyone is pathetic in that scene: the drunken guy of course, but also the DCA CM who pepper sprayed the guy repeatedly, the guests who are either laughing at the man or shouting "we're at Disneyland!" (when, by the way, they are at DCA!) and the guys who finally pinned the guy to the ground, almost suffocating him.

The main problem in that scene is that we don't know how it all began. Chances are that the drunk guy was a bit too drunk for the DCA CM who asked him to move and of course the guy began to get angry, etc... But i doubt he was a danger for anyone, what i think is that the CM wanted him to move away because, precisely, "hey, we're at Disneyland, and we don't want any drunk guy in the park". No one obviously tried to understand how the story started, who was responsible, etc... No, it was more just like "a drunk guy must not be at Disneyland, let's throw him out of here, and if possible let's put him in jail!". Everything in the scene is absolutely disgusting because all what happened, all the reactions were reactionary, there is not one ounce of intelligence or humanity from anyone. Sorry, but for me it's America at its worst.

Edited 22 / 2: Considering the comments below, it seems that some explanations are needed. So, no, i have of course nothing against americans. And yes, that scene could have happened in France, or in a lot of other countries in the world. And my title would have been the same, i.e "France at its worst" or "England at its worst" if it had happened in England, etc...That said, when i see people laughing at a drunk guy on the ground while he is pepper sprayed, i'm sorry, but i don't find this kind of reaction very healthy. Same when i see six guys against one, etc...

Edited 22 / 2: Thanks to Al Lutz, we know now the full story of what really happened and you can read the complete story HERE. What is interesting is how the incident started, and from the infos that Al got "The disgruntled park guest, who reeked of alcohol, was in the park alone on Saturday. He had received a Guest Assistance Card (GAC) for a disability from the Guest Relations desk, but he had received a lesser stamp on his pass that didn’t allow him immediate boarding at DCA’s fully accessible queues and attractions. When the man tried to use his GAC at Tower of Terror, the Cast Member at the gate told him that the queue was fully accessible and that he would need to enter the lengthy Standby line or get a Fastpass and return later. The message that he needed to wait in line, even with his GAC, set him off and he began using profanity and demanding to be let on the ride immediately. The Attraction Lead was summoned to the front gate to help, and the Lead had the same problem calming the man down, and it was the Lead who called for Security to respond."

So, if i understand well, the drunken guest has received a Guest Assistance Card for a disability and the TOT CM refused to allow him immediate boarding because of a lesser stamp on the card, and it's there that the perfect storm began. This is also the perfect kafkaïan situation where everything goes havoc because of bureaucraty rules. I can understand that DL/DCA rules must be the same for everyone but, knowing that the guy had a GAC for disabilty and that he was also a bit too drunk i wonder if the best in this kind of situation wouldn't have been to let him go in immediate boarding instead to finally have this ugly scene in the middle of DCA and DL execs to began their week in "damage control mode".

Finally, among the comments on Youtube ( apparently everybody hate the lady yelling in the background! ) here is probably the best one - ri remind you that the incident took place in front of the Tower of Terror entrance:

"You unlock this door with the key of imagination, Beyond it is another dimension, a dimension of that annoying bitch, a dimension of a Drunk, a dimension of Humiliation. You're moving Into a land of both Disgrace and Stupidity, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone!".

And if we have a closer look at this incident it's interesting to note that all this happened at the entrance of the TOT attraction, because the whole story looks like a Twilight Zone episode:  A poor soul with invalidity pass comes to spend a day at DCA, then gets drunk, then he is refused instant access to the ride, then gets angry, and then everyone gets crazy and fall into the "Twilight Zone". 

Seriously, the whole thing could easily be a script of a Twilight Zone episode. I'm sure some of you will see all this just as a coincidence, to what i reply: maybe, but that doesn't change the fact that it HAPPENED for real at the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror entrance and not in front of the Little Mermaid ride...



Video: copyright RLIFE716

Hong Kong Disneyland Launches the "Star Guest" Program !

Hong Kong Disneyland is launching what they call the "Star Guest" program! From March 15 to May 20 as soon as a HKDL guest will collect a "Star Recognition Pack" and pin the "Star Guest Badge" on their VIP to signify their status the magic of celebration will begin and magical moments will happen to the guests when they least expect it! Note that a limited quantity of these "Star Recognition Pack" wil be available each day on a first come--first served basis while stock lasts.

HKDL guests will also be able to elevate the magic with the exclusive "Star Experiences"....which will require additional purchases. There will be five different "Star Experiences" and you can see below a screen capture of each of them coming from the new web site showing the contents of this Star Guest program.











This HKDL Star Guest program looks like a good idea to me, don't you think?

Screen captures: copyright Disney

Don't miss the great HKDL Wallpapers Application for iPhone - iPad, you'll find it on the iTunes Appstore! See article here
Direct iTunes link HERE!

New John Carter Clip

Disney has released a new clip from John Carter - previously "of Mars". This one is showing Woola, half dog-half geeko, who considers John Carter as his master since he was the first one to save his life, These animals can move incredibly fast and have a mouth with dangerous razor teeth.

That said, and although Disney marketing is tring its best to promote the film, the news are not very good as early box-office tracking estimates for the film are extremely weak. As it is said in a Daily Beast article: “The geek generation isn’t responding. It’s too weird for the family audience. Then it has the Disney brand and PG-13? I’m not sure who it’s for,” says a rival studio executive who requested anonymity for fear of burning bridges in Hollywood". And it's true that what we've seen so far from the movie reminds a bit of others well known movies including Star Wars, Avatar, Gladiator, Prince of Persia, etc, etc... So, some are afraid that John Carter could be a massive failure just like "Ishtar" was 25 years ago (Ishtar being, with Waterworld, always the reference in terms of total failure at the box office).

In two weeks we'll be able to have our own judgement on Andrew Stanton movie but i, personally, still trust Stanton's talent and still hope that the movie will be good.




Picture and video: copyright Disney

DLP Space Mountain trains will get new Vekoma harness fall 2012 !

It doesn't look like but this is a major news for all guests planning to visit Disneyland Paris: each seat of all Space Mounain trains will have soon a new harness designed by Vekoma. And this will change EVERYTHING. The ride will of course will stay the same, but at least you won't be afraid anymore to break your neck during the two and a half minutes beloved attraction. Because, let's say it frankly, DLP Space Mountain has became along the years almost dangerous to ride and you now get more hurt than pleasure.

DLP Space Mountain is indeed the fastest of all Space Mountains and the loop, corkscrew and others inversions which were fun at its 1995 opening are now not that fun anymore due to the natural wear of the track. And the seats harness are not protecting you anymore from the train vibrations. In two words: DLP Space Mountain is not anymore the pleasure that it was ten years ago.

And that's why this new Vekoma harness is a real good news. This new hydraulic harness is totally different than the previous one and the head will be free, so no more knocks of the head. Last week, Vekoma came at DLP to test it and installed this new harness at the last row of one Space Mountain train. Then, they asked DLP cast members if they would like to test it. Several CM did try it and all were literally in heaven when the train came back at the boarding station. Basically, thanks to the new harness "it's night and day" from the previous one and the ride just become exhilarating again. No pictures were allowed during this test but according to a CM who did it the harness look exactly like the one on the picture below.



But, as there is always a "but", according to the Vekoma guys who were there Space Mountain trains won't be equipped with this new harness before the end of 2012. If there is no technical or theming problems as the trains might need to be transformed a bit if the new harness is larger than the previous one. So, if you come at DLP before the end of 2012 either avoid to ride Space Mountain until the trains gets the new harness....or ride it and take an appointment to your nearest chiropractor!



One more thing, as Steve would have said: the galaxy picture above is not one of those projected during the ride but it's the new official wallpaper which will be released with the new Mac OS X " Mountain Lion " next summer. Just a little gift for my readers who have a Mac - although the wallpaper will fit also perfectly on a PC! Double click on it to get it in big size.

Pictures: copyright Disney, Apple Inc

Talking about DLP i remind you that my DLP book is currently on its way to be reprint and that it's the right time to place your pre-order for a collector's copy. The book will be reprint for sure next month, and that's one more good reason to pre-order your collector copy right now, specially considering that during the pre-order period which will end in a few weeks you also have a 20% discount on what will be the final price of the book. I repost below the video showing you each page of the book and to know how to order and send your payment please go HERE. Paypal or bank wire transfer payments are accepted.

20 Years of Disneyland Paris in just four minutes ! Plus: DLP 2011 Annual Report

Disneyland Paris has released the 2011 Annual Report and this year, instead than releasing the AP on a PDF they've created a new web site on which you will find several videos, including a introduction by DLP CEO Philippe Gas. Among the videos there is one which shows 20 years of DLP in just four minutes. It's of course a bit fast but it seems that it's now the big fashion to do this kind of editing ( i saw another one yesterday which was showing all the new features of the upcoming new Mac OS " Mountain Lion" in just two minutes! ). Of course when a video editing goes that fast it doesn't have any sense, except to be sure that the viewer will see everything to the end. When we live in a world where everyone complain if an internet page don't upload In less than one second you must not be surprised if these kind of video editing will happen more and more...

That said, here is the video, and good luck to identify each scene of these "20 years of DLP"!


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You've probably note the name of the video: "Disneyland Paris Generation" and they're right those who are now 20 were born when Disneyland Paris opened By the way, when you'll jump to the Annual Report web site HERE don't forget to click on the top on the little english flag to access the english version!

Talking about DLP i remind you that my DLP book is currently on its way to be reprint and that it's the right time to place your pre-order for a collector's copy. The book will be reprint for sure next month, and that's one more good reason to pre-order your collector copy right now, specially considering that during the pre-order period which will end in a few weeks you also have a 20% discount on what will be the final price of the book. I repost below the video showing you each page of the book and to know how to order and send your payment please go HERE. Paypal or bank wire transfer payments are accepted.







Picture and DLP 20 Years video: copyright Disney

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril : The Mystery of the Second Temple

One of my Disney and more reader who own my DLP book and have a good eye sent me this question: "On page 138 of your book the rendering of the Temple of péril on the top of the page seems to show TWO temples instead of one. Do you have any idea if this means that WDI originally envisioned to build two temples instead of one only?"

Well, Jim, it's for sure a good question, as indeed two temples are clearly visible on that rendering. And, of course, if a WDI artist painted it, it's because the imagineers did envisioned another temple.

However, it seems that it is only after that the first temple was built that they began to really work on a new temple addition. Why? because the first temple was an instant hit at DLP's Adventureland but had one little problem: the hour capacity. And of course, the best to resolve this problem would have been to build...a second temple!

So, in Glendale, imagineers not only thought seriously - as they always do - about this new temple, but a model was built. And what can we saw on this model? Well, the two temples, of course, with the new one joining the first temple at a 90 degrees angle - imagine a "L" letter upside down, the vertical part of the letter being the first temple and the horizontal part being the new temple. However, there was no link between the two coaster tracks. Instead, the imagineers designed two totally different rides for both temples, with the possibility for the guests to board either at the first or at the second temple.

Another interesting point in this never built concept was that imagineers were not sacrifying the space to eventually build Indiana Jones Aventure in the future. In fact, if my memory is right, one of the "towers" of the second temple would have serve as the entrance for a future IJA attraction.

Now, as we know, this second temple was never built, and the main reason, as usual with DLP was - guess what? - money! At the end of the 1990's Disneyland Paris was in serious trouble financially speaking, and the park's management choose the option to add capacity with more seats for each train. They also choose to have the ride going "backward" , and indeed it was much cheaper to turn each train than to build a brand new temple!

Is there any chance that we see this other temple build in the future? Frankly, i wouldn't count on it, but who knows, as they say at WDI, "a good idea never die". That's right, but sometime a better idea can replace another one an dif DLP finally decides one day to bring Indiana Jones Adventure in Adventureland this for sure will be better than a second temple.



That said, did you know that some great scene concepts for the "first" temple were unfortunately cancelled - like the one below? You'll find this scene and many others in my DLP book and this is what makes "From Sketch to Reality" a great book as you will find in it hundred of WDI artworks, including WDI concepts that never were realized! I also remind you that the pre-order period will end in two weeks and with it the 20% discount that anyone have when you place a pre-order. So, go ahead and place your pre-order now for your collector's edition copy! To know how to order and send your payment please go HERE. Paypal or bank wire transfer payments are accepted.





Artwork: copyright Disney Enterprises Inc