Wanna know what it's like working attractions for Disney?

Those of us that have had the opportunity to work in one of Disney's theme parks know how interesting and fun it can be. We also know how demanding and tricky it can be, too.

Over the last couple of days, a set of four flash games have been floating around the blogsphere, and with good reason. They're four simulations of Disney attractions which you can control with the aim of running the attraction as efficiently as possible and by getting as many guests through as possible.

Sounds easy? You'd be wrong. The four attractions are the Disney-MGM Studios version of the Tower of Terror, and the Disneyland Paris versions of Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain Mission 2 and Phantom Mannor, and the games are quite tricky to master. You have to control the doors, queue, loading and dispatch of each ride for up to four ride trains as well as attending to breakdowns and the ever growing line of guests forming at the entrance to your attraction.

So, what are you waiting for? Go on and give it a play!

Links:
- Simulations on themagical.nl

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Imagineering new ride development.

The ocregister has a couple of short but interesting articles on the development process of a Disney ride.

There are a couple of great books I have read that discuss WED/WDI history and process:

Walt Disney's Legends of Imagineering and the Genesis of the Disney Theme Park

Walt Disney Imagineering: A Behind the Dreams Look At Making the Magic Real

Links to the ocregister articles:
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/money/columns/article_1617385.php
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/money/article_1617391.php

Just like we dreamed it - 15 years of magic

This year, Disneyland Resort Paris has a very special celebration going on. On 12 April 1992, what was at the time called The Euro Disney Resort officially opened its gates to the world. This year, on 1 April 2007 the resort will start its celebrations for its 15th anniversary.

Several websites have already been starting to release pictures and information about some of the things that will be happening around the resort during the celebration, and it looks like there's going to be a lot of fun things happening for visitors to the resort during the festivities. Ranging from a brand new parade to new attractions and shows.

The Walt Disney Studios Park will be introducing the new attractions, which include the Tower of Terror (which is based on the Anaheim version of the ride) as well as two new attractions based on Pixar's Finding Nemo and Cars films. The Disneyland Park will introduce Disney's Once Upon a Dream Parade along with a special celebration show in front of Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant. During a Shareholders Meeting recently, the resort revealed the characters with their new costumes for the anniversary celebrations along with a special 15th anniversary song called "Just like we dreamed it". Photos of the costumes and a MP3 file of the song are available on DLRPMagic's DLRPToday website.

The resort also opened up it's special Disneyland 15 website to coincide with the Shareholders Meeting, which contains lots of information about the celebration (although some sections aren't live yet) and some special trailer videos. There's also a special "Behind the Scenes" video, which features some of Disneyland Resort Paris' creative team talking about what's going on during the celebration. It's very likely that more and more details about the celebration will be announced or otherwise revealed over the next month as the resort prepares to start what is sure to be a fantastic celebration of 15 years of magic that only Disney can create.

Links:
- Disneyland Resort Paris' official 15th Anniversary site
- Disneyland Resort Paris' official website

The loss of El Rio Del Tiempo

Disney is reporting that El Rio Del Tiempo is closed for refurbishment until April. It seems according to WDWMagic.com that it is being changed from its original format to "Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros".

Some of my favorite memories include eating dinner at the San Angel Inn and then riding El Rio a few times to relax afterwards. The whole Mexican pavilion is great from the Volcano to the night time atmosphere. I will sorely miss the original song and ride no matter how out dated it was.

Let's hope the new version of the ride is as entertaining as the previous. At least they didn't try to incorporate a Pixar character into it and are using classic characters.