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View Full Version : What happened to the old Disney Rail Road spiels/narrations?



Noah
02-07-2005, 01:04 PM
Hello everyone!
So what is the real story with the fate of the original disneyland railroad main street audio spiel's as well as the on-ride narraration? I believe Thurl Ravenscroft provided the voice for those narrarations. I would have to say that I do feel that the current spiels for the railroad are poor at best.
I notice now the current spiels are followed by a Spanish version spiel which is recorded at louder volumes and in a diffrent type of style than the English version. In my opinion it detracts from the experience. Now I understand due to state safety laws, Insurance reasons and perhaps a bit of political correctness Disney feels that it should implement Spanish translations of specific spiels (seems to mostly be safety speils at this point) but for gosh sakes could they please try and match the volume levels and preformances between the English and Spanish versions. Otherwise it is totally distracting for English speakers to have to sit through a 3 minute spiel in a diffrent language after already sitting through a 3 minute spiel in English. Thats about 6 minutes of spiel while you are trying to enjoy the journey.
In the good old days I actually enjoyed the short English spiel by Thrul Ravenscroft. Although today the only audio I enjoy on the train is the "Your Attention Please... The Disneyland Railroad is now Approaching......" at Main street station this seems to be the only bit of authentic audio left on the railroad.
Why did this happen? Where is the original audio? I have decided I am now going to find all the original audio for Disneyland put it on my I-POD and cue it up at the appropriate times so I can experience the attractions the way I liked them, with real authentic vintage Disneyland stars providing the voices.
Does anyone here have the original audio? (there was a website that had it but it is no longer operational) Does anyone else feel the same way about this?

Mickeyslittlehelper
02-07-2005, 01:33 PM
I really hope they still use the one by Thurl Ravenscroft. Thats part of the reason to ride the train! lol :fez:

sediment
02-07-2005, 01:40 PM
[when threads collide...]
How about an "Amigo Miguel" that will provide appropriately-timed and placed translation for mainly Spanish-speaking guests?

smd4
02-07-2005, 02:19 PM
You can go here (http://sorcerersworkshop.disneyfans.com/railroad.shtml) for some spiels that pre-date even Thurl (there is a portion of the Thurl narration as well).

Noah
02-07-2005, 02:48 PM
SMD4, thanks for the link! That is great, although according to the website it states that the Thurl Ravenscroft speil started in 2001, that cannot be right.
From almost all my memories of Disneyland 1979-2000 I recall the Thurl Ravenscroft spiel containing "....the smoking lamp is extinguished, please no smoking......." Unless that was edited out of the Jack Wagner spiel.
I don't think so though.

smd4
02-07-2005, 02:58 PM
I think the 2001 date referes to the date that the spiel was recorded by the owner of the site--not necessarily when Thurl recorded it. It was certainly Thurl in the 1990s. My guess is (and it's just a guess) is that the Thurl narration only dates from 1989--when Splash Mountain was installed. Several improvements to the railroad occured during the down-time for this project.

There was a different Spiel used in 1983 (the date is known because the narration mentions the New Fantasyland) that did not mention the "smoking lamp," and was not done by Thurl. The spiel done in 1992 with the opening of Mickey's Toontown uses the first reference I can find of the "smoking lamp."

Noah
02-07-2005, 03:20 PM
Thanks for all the great info! Now what is your honest opinion about the newest Spiel (Pre 2005 refurb)?

smd4
02-07-2005, 03:27 PM
Um, my opinion is that I think the new spiel is "less than evocative."

Noah
02-07-2005, 04:36 PM
I agree 100%, now Disney should really think about the fact that the impressions they leave on the children of today are the ones who will or will not be the ones returning as adults with there own children and there childrens children. If we take away some of the magic that has left impressions on us and replace it with safety spiel after safety spiel and replacing the special places like the Penny Arcade with another store selling more trinkets, we will find that Disneyland ceases to be the Happiest Place on Earth and becomes more the most expensive shopping mall on earth. Lets keep the magic alive, retain the character and restore places like the penny arcade or the Forts and climbing rocks on Tom Sawyers or the people movers going through the tron world, The Skyway through the matterhorn, the Submarines, what about the Swiss Family robinson treehouse, come on the current Tarzan theme is really poor. Does everything at Disneyland now have to be a tie in to a movie? (maybe I should not ask that question) either way I hope I am not sounding bitter because I love the park I just hate to see it transforming into a shopping mall for the wealthy at the expense of its heritage and uniqueness.