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View Full Version : Disneyland Phasing Out Animatronics?



Gemini Cricket
07-27-2001, 10:33 AM
Is Disney getting rid of their animatronic attractions because it's too costly to keep up?
Think about it:

Mission to Mars (control room) - gone

America Sings - gone (some relocated to Splash)

Bear Country Playhouse - on chopping block to be replaced by Pooh that has little to no animatronic figures on the ride.

Tiki Room - being allowed to go downhill to be replaced.

Tarzan's Treehouse - new attraction, no animatronic figures

Indy - only a couple of Indy's and one moving snake

I'm amazed that they didn't phase out the story teller Native American on the Mark Twain ride. He is one of their best animatronic figures that is exposed to outside elements...

DisneylandKid
07-27-2001, 10:38 AM
They had better not be! Audio-Animatronics™ contribute greatly to what makes Disneyland so magical! I don't think they are, though, because of the new Lincoln and in regards to the snake in Indy, it is extremely sophisticated, so it counts as two (:))...but then look across the way--I don't think DCA has a single Audio-Animatronic™ figure in it. Superstar Limo's celebrity figures might be considered Audio-Animatronics™, but they are not very sophisticated.

JRob2k1
07-27-2001, 12:31 PM
Originally posted by DisneylandKid
They had better not be! Audio-Animatronics™ contribute greatly to what makes Disneyland so magical! I don't think they are, though, because of the new Lincoln and in regards to the snake in Indy, it is extremely sophisticated, so it counts as two (:))...but then look across the way--I don't think DCA has a single Audio-Animatronic™ figure in it. Superstar Limo's celebrity figures might be considered Audio-Animatronics™, but they are not very sophisticated.

There are not that many animatronics in DCA but they are still there. It's tough to be a Bug and muppets both have many animatronics. They are very good ones too, especially in ITTBAB!!! So they are there.

As for Disneyland, I dont think they're getting rid of AA's.

Mission to Mars - things change

America Sings/Splash Mountain - They reused a LOT of AA's for Spalsh so I would be complaining about that one. As far as I know, almost all the AA's were saved.

Bears/Tiki - As much as I hate to say it, these are on the "chopping block" because of popularity/monetary reasons. It has nothing to do with Animatronics.

Indy - If you have ever seen the actual amount of effects/AA's they originally wanted to put into this ride it would probably blow your mind. The price tag would have been astronomical and I think we got the perfect mix of AA's and special effects. (Now if they would only fix most of them so they would work.)

Tarzan - It didnt have AA's before, so it didnt really need them now. Sure it would be nice, but it's not really necessary.

What we need to watch is the next big E-Ticket. If that is lacking AA's(of course it depends on the "type" of ride) then maybe their is some deal for concern.

-JRob

PirateoftheCaribbean
07-27-2001, 02:04 PM
As far as DL is concerned, we've got...

Grand Canyon Diorama and Primieval World on DLRR.
Indy Figures and Snake
Splash Mountain
Mr. Lincoln
goat on BTMRR
Snowman on Matterhorn
Indian chief (as seen on DLRR)
Star Tours (Robot Pilot and Queue)
Jungle Cruise
Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin
Various figures in the Fantasyland Dark Rides
Pirates of the Caribbean
Haunted Mansion
Tiki Room and Country Bears (for now)

and Aren't there other Indians on the riverbanks that can be viewed from the Mark Twain?

I guess that's quite a bit still there. If there are more please help.

Gemini Cricket
07-27-2001, 02:08 PM
There's one really good Indian that moves very convincingly. He appears to be telling a story by his tent. He's on the left (port) bank midway through the Mark Twain ride. I think he moves better than the Pirate Auctioneer in Pirates! That's saying a lot.

Andrew
07-27-2001, 02:47 PM
Originally posted by Doc
There's one really good Indian that moves very convincingly. He appears to be telling a story by his tent. He's on the left (port) bank midway through the Mark Twain ride.

Back when the Festival Arena hosted the Hunchback of Notre Dame Festival of Fools (http://www.mouseplanet.com/sue/sk010614.htm), you could see the Indian chief telling his tribe the story of the Feast of Fools. Actually it was the sound of the FoF show carrying over into the RoA area, but that's sure what it looked like...

PirateoftheCaribbean
07-27-2001, 03:21 PM
Thanks.

One more question. Should It's a Small World be considered AA's?

CaliforniaCrazy
07-27-2001, 04:05 PM
He didn't even mention that they have taken out Tom Morrow at Innoventions, last time I was there he was gone. That was the only cool thing about Innoventions, and now he's gone.:(

JeffG
07-27-2001, 04:16 PM
I was in Innoventions last Sunday and Tom Morrow was still there. Is it possible you were in there when they were doing some repair work or something similar?

-Jeff

DisneylandKid
07-27-2001, 05:16 PM
I had forgotten that It's tough to be a bug and Muppet*Vision have Audio-Animatronics @ DCA. They are very sophisticated, too. Hopper in ITTBAB is great.

CaliforniaCrazy
07-27-2001, 06:59 PM
Actually, I think that was what happened, now that I think about it. They did have the entire section where he is covered up.

Mr D
07-27-2001, 08:47 PM
If any AA's are being removed from DL then I with most certainty think they are going into the SSL rehab, gee talk about a strip job! Are they gonna leave DL up on concrete blocks when they are done "fixing" DCA?:mad:

Darkbeer
07-27-2001, 09:18 PM
Have you read the news section, the guy in charge of the movies for Disney's rides has been promoted to be in charge of WDI... where will this lead us?????

I just hope he is tired of movies and wants to do something else... (except if he's thinking about doing a new movie for Star Tours ;)

beanpole
07-28-2001, 12:51 AM
Here's some more AA figures for the list:

Small World (yes, the dolls really are AA figures; their motions are stored in a linear storage format and the sequenced signals activate their solenoids and actuators)

Space Mountain (the FedEx robot in the loading area is a simple AA figure)

I'm fairly certain that of all the Fantasyland dark rides, only Toad lacks AA figures. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong!

The old Mr. Lincoln show had the AA owl character in the pre-show. I'd guess that he's gone now.

DisneyFreak2000
07-28-2001, 09:03 AM
I am VERY upset to see the Bears be replaced with Pooh, but I think that they will show up somewhere else in the resort again (hopefully in DCA near GRR). However, I DO NOT want the Tiki birds replaced, I think they are one of the most entertaining AA shows ever! I would HATE to see them go. :(

Gemini Cricket
07-28-2001, 09:27 AM
I wonder how one would go about finding out what happened to that owl?

Napsto
07-28-2001, 09:27 AM
i love AA's and i doubt disney, the pioneers of this technology, would slowly stop using it, it is a great effect.

Gemini Cricket
07-28-2001, 10:06 AM
I don't agree. I think Eisner, Pressler and Disney would do just about anything to save money.
Did you ever ride Buzz Lightyear at WDW? The characters are cardboard cutouts! There is one AA figure in the line of Buzz that's intricate but the rest lack a third dimension!

Mr D
07-29-2001, 05:56 AM
Someone or somepersons keep your ears to the ground for any news of the missing AA's being sent to DCA especially at SSL, I wasn't joking about them being installed there as its reported elsewhere thats what the top brass want to do to fix the theming of SSL.

Napsto
07-29-2001, 11:19 AM
i was in my laugingplace and i read what one person said they are gonna do to superstar limo. it was quite intresting. anybody else hear about that?

Mr D
07-29-2001, 05:28 PM
Thats where I heard about it, but then who listens to moi?

Gemini Cricket
08-04-2001, 10:41 PM
I heard a rumor that the Storytelling Indian on the Mark Twain ride is a rehabbed Abe Lincoln! Can anyone confirm this?

bandboy1985
08-22-2001, 07:26 PM
napsto-
i read that series- didn't it say there would be over 150 new AA figures in low light? i believe it had mentioned that disney would be taking the cleanest dolls from the disney store displays and putting them into the attraction, and that the exec's had already previewed and okay'ed it.