Goodbye Electronica...Hello...uh...Mad T Party!?!?!

[moofeet]

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blo...dventure-park/

I hope they somehow keep Flynnn's Arcade around (or move it somewhere..like say Tomorrowland!)! Not too excited about this Mad T Party thing. Thoughts??

[cstephens]

The concept sketches are a little brighter than I think I'd prefer, but I enjoyed GlowFest, and I *loved* Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland", so I'm interested in checking it out.

I agree with the sentiment, though, of hoping they can move Flynn's Arcade somewhere instead of just scrapping it completely. Star Traders took over part of the downstairs Starcade when the Star Traders space was being refurbed, but Star Traders is completely reopened now but they're still in the Starcade space. Downstairs Starcade would be a great place to put Flynn's Arcade.

[IllusionOfLife]

Ergh… I did enjoy ElecTRONica, but I was kind of hoping that after it's time was up we could have the Backlot go back to normal. It's cool at night, but when it's not in use all of the infrastructure is quite ugly.

I know it's popular and it's drawing crowds, but if there will perpetually be some kind of nighttime dance party back there would it be too much to ask for some way of hiding the infrastructure during the day?

[olegc]

I'm with IllusionOfLife - just want to have the same immersive experience at DCA's backlot I have everywhere else in Disneyland and DCA (well, will be). I just don't buy the whole "part of the backlot) when the majority is themed for the 30s.

I think the Interactive gaming will be a lot of Disney Kinect - but then I wonder what Innoventions is for?

[jananafish]

I would be interested in going to this...never did ElecTRONica. This would be fun...I think haha

[oregontraveler]

Ditto on the daytime overlay taking away from the routine theming. Now that the bean counters are onto something here, I expect the night-time party atmosphere is here to stay. I like the idea of a live band, but won't the stage be up full time. I can't imagine they would want to tear down and rebuild every night.

[bumblebeeonarose]

There's always been a stage back there. I saw a show with Goofy and Max back there in 2005.

[oregontraveler]

There's always been a stage back there. I saw a show with Goofy and Max back there in 2005.

Are you thinking of the stage that LaserMan used, which has alwys been there for daytime shows. The concept art shows a new bandstand outside Monsters Inc, which to me looks about 10 feet deep and 20 feet long. Plus the big light rig overhead, I'm assuming they will leave it up full time.

One one hand, I think this new concept will be much less distracting in the daytime without the big Tron arches down the main boulevard. I'm just trying to see how it will look when its all said and done.

[houseofmouse]

Backlot is supposed to be a working studio right? Well other than being out of the time era they are going for in the re-do, it will be a working area. I loved Glowfest, was not too thrilled with Electronica but liked Laserman. Don't understand the draw of the arcade, smelly and cramped and full of out dated games I played when I was 10, was never where I wanted to spend my money. Mad T party sounds fun and unless it hangs around for a few years, I might miss ever seeing it.

[trypticon]

I didn't expect Electronica to last as long as it did, but I'm kind of sad that I missed ever seeing it, especially since I've been to the park probably forty times sine it debuted. I've walked past it in the evening, and thought it looked cool, and I've watched clips of the laser man on the internet, but I never made it a priority to actually go in there and witness it first hand.

[dban3]

I didn't expect Electronica to last as long as it did, but I'm kind of sad that I missed ever seeing it, especially since I've been to the park probably forty times sine it debuted. I've walked past it in the evening, and thought it looked cool, and I've watched clips of the laser man on the internet, but I never made it a priority to actually go in there and witness it first hand.

Speaking personally, you didn't miss out on much. Other than seeing Laserman (which is kind of cool...once...not unlike ASIMO), the rest of ElecTRONIC was pretty much an audio visual assault on your senses and pretty much of a head-scratcher. Then again, I'm not as young as I used to be.

[trypticon]

Speaking personally, you didn't miss out on much. Other than seeing Laserman (which is kind of cool...once...not unlike ASIMO), the rest of ElecTRONIC was pretty much an audio visual assault on your senses and pretty much of a head-scratcher. Then again, I'm not as young as I used to be.

I guess I saw what was worth seeing then. I'm not much into extremely loud music. The lighting effects seemed nice, but they were just lights, and probably couldn't compare to the Electric Light Parade that I've been missing since it went to Florida.

[shna]

I liked Glow Fest quite a bit more than I liked ElecTRONica, so I have a feeling the Mad T Party will be more up my alley.

[ImDMous]

We loved ElecTRONica and are sad to see it go. It was very thematic, if you hadn't seen the movie you wouldn't get it. I love Alice in Wonderland (the old and the new movies) but I really liked that the TRON audience was a bit older. The kids that were there were always really into the theme, probably not very common. The concept art so far of Mad T Party makes it look like a Romper Room rave but I'll give it a try. I heard people saying that they liked GlowFest a lot but didn't get the Disney connection of it, maybe Mad T Party is their attempt to bring the two together.

[jananafish]

I have a question: I know you're not allowed to come in a "costume" to DLR but do you think it is OK to wear colored wigs? I am far from a raver but if they do have music and stuff, and you can dance, then I think it would be kind of fun to fit in with the theme. I have lots of different colored wigs (lots of theme parties lol)...but I wouldn't want to get in "trouble" since it's not really my own hair haha.

[shna]

I wouldn't think a wig would be considered a costume - especially if you're wearing fairly normal-looking clothes.

[jananafish]

^^ Good point. See, my friends always make fun of me because I always read all of the rules everywhere and am a stickler I just don't like to cause trouble

[Iceman]

Speaking personally, you didn't miss out on much. Other than seeing Laserman (which is kind of cool...once...not unlike ASIMO), the rest of ElecTRONIC was pretty much an audio visual assault on your senses and pretty much of a head-scratcher. Then again, I'm not as young as I used to be.

We all have our preferences, but my family has made several trips JUST to go to ElecTRONica. We just love the entire thing, from concept to execution, and that includes me (at age 40) down to my Tron-loving daughter who is about to turn 8. I told my family about the Mad T Party idea, and that one is the head-scratcher to us, although we're hopeful that Disney will pull off another wonderful nighttime experience (which is something that has been lacking from the resorts on both coasts ever since they closed Pleasure Island in Florida)...

[MadasaHatter]

Personally I think if they are going to keep doing it they should change it up as often as possible. I love it. I thought the Tim Burton picture was a crashing bore but LOVED the art direction and costumes on it so I for one am a very excited HATTER to take a look at it! Of course.....I am mad!

[IllusionOfLife]

My biggest concern is still the infrastructure of this. If this is going to become a semi-permanent thing they need to find someway to hide it while it's not in use. Think about it, except during peak season it's only in use on weekends, yet it's more visible during the day than Fantasmic! and World of Color which are nightly events. I have a feeling though that Disney is just viewing this as an easy cash cow and won't take the time to seamlessly integrate it into the area. They'll just put some new paint on the ElecTRONica stuff and leave it lying around, cluttering up the backlot.

[dban3]

My biggest concern is still the infrastructure of this. If this is going to become a semi-permanent thing they need to find someway to hide it while it's not in use. Think about it, except during peak season it's only in use on weekends, yet it's more visible during the day than Fantasmic! and World of Color which are nightly events. I have a feeling though that Disney is just viewing this as an easy cash cow and won't take the time to seamlessly integrate it into the area. They'll just put some new paint on the ElecTRONica stuff and leave it lying around, cluttering up the backlot.

According to Al Lutz, Mad T Party isn't suppose to be nearly as intrusive with visible equipment as ElecTRONica. From the Carthay Circle Theater looking into Hollywood Studios, you should not see any trace of Mad T Party (unlike the current ElecTRONica). The bulk of the semi-permanemt fixtures for Mad will be tucked away in the area around Stage 17 and Monsters Inc.

[Iceman]

Of course one of the things that makes ElecTRONica so awesome is the fully immersive experience it provides. I agree that the decorations are distracting and out-of-theme during the day. But unless they were to make a permanent nighttime party area, I can't see if being worth the expense of installing moving fixtures that match one theme during the day and another at night.

If the Mad T Party is going to be concentrated around Stage 17 and Monsters, Inc., it will be more limited and (IMO) lamer. Of course this would explain why they just put up all those expensive lights inside Stage 17 and have been testing out various ElecTRONica experiences in there...

[IllusionOfLife]

That's just it, Disney needs to decide whether this is permanent or temporary. GlowFest and ElecTRONica were only ever intended to be temporary, and this kind of stuff is fine for temporary things, but we're going on two years now without any signs of slowing down. In my opinion that's simply too long to get away with cluttering up the backlot with exposed and ugly infrastructure. If Disney wants this to be permanent they need to properly integrate it, if they aren't willing to put up the cash for that it just needs to die out. Imagine if after installing Fantasmic! Disney just left everything in show position 24/7, even if the show was only running on weekends. It would be ugly and obnoxious and people would complain, regardless of how good the show is. That's my problem. If these dance parties are permanent than Disney needs to make a permanent installation solution, if they are temporary than it's time for them to go away.

[olegc]

their way out, of course, is that it IS a movie backlot. Now - from all of the descriptions there won't be anything on the main street portion of the Backlot area because the trolley and parade will travel there, and they can't have large props that may interfere with the electronic cables of the trolley. Also, the stages will be more towards Stage 17 and M-Inc - but will still include the bar and the Flynn's arcade rethemed as an interactive gaming area. the idea, I believe, is to create semi-permanent staging areas behind the facades of the main boulevards.

Of course, it does nothing to correct the issues of what IllusionOfLife brings up - which I guess will always be the trouble with DCA for the near term. It will be the battle of the old-style of park design and planning (which Lasseter decided to revamp - immersive theming, etc.) vs doing things for the lowest common denominator and the easiest profit.

I still wonder if indeed the original intent for Glow (and the other shows) is fulfilling its purpose - which was to create a place to hold folks busy while they wait for WoC. I seriously doubt it - as it seems from the chats on the pad here that many folks enjoy these diversions about as much, or more, than WoC.

[Iceman]

It will be the battle of the old-style of park design and planning (which Lasseter decided to revamp - immersive theming, etc.) vs doing things for the lowest common denominator and the easiest profit.

I still wonder if indeed the original intent for Glow (and the other shows) is fulfilling its purpose - which was to create a place to hold folks busy while they wait for WoC. I seriously doubt it - as it seems from the chats on the pad here that many folks enjoy these diversions about as much, or more, than WoC.

I wanted to comment on both of these thoughts. While the nighttime events have certainly brought in plenty of coin, I think that merely reveals an untapped demographic rather than "the lowest common denominator". Perhaps it is time for a west coast version of Pleasure Island?

Also, I did not know that the original purpose of GlowFest and ElecTRONica were to keep people busy while they waited for World of Color. I, for one, think WoC is one of the most spectacular Disney shows I've ever seen. Even so, I only like to see it in the center dining package section so I don't see it all that often. I do, however, go to ElecTRONica regularly. And I've never noticed a mass departure of guests as WoC show times approach, so I agree that if the original purpose was just to keep folks busy then they've failed. Although that "failure" has apparently resulted in a lot more satisfied guests and a substantial addition to Disney's bottom line, so things have certainly worked out, it would seem...