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Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians and author of Jim’s Gems in The easy Guide, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

ROCK ‘N’ ROLLER COASTER

By Jim Korkis

“When you’ve toured the world as much as we have, it’s a real thrill to find a new audience,” said lead singer of the band Aerosmith Steve Tyler in July 1999. “Coming up with a soundtrack for this Disney ride really brought the kid out in all of us and has given us the opportunity to play audio gymnastics with our music.”

Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster with Aerosmith opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios July 29, 1999. The attraction is a steel roller coaster created by the Vekoma Rides Manufacturing company that begins with powerful linear synchronous motors (LSM) that catapult the super stretch limo vehicle inspired by the design of a 1962 Cadillac from 0 to 57 miles per hour in just 2.8 seconds into a giant cobra roll and later a corkscrew inversion.

“The idea behind the ride is that guests just stepped into a recording studio where Aerosmith is rehearsing for an awards show. Suddenly, the group’s harried manager (actress Illeana Douglas) rushes in and announces that the band is running late. The members refuse to go to the show unless their loyal fans get to go as well.

“So, 24 guests at a time,” stated lead designer Jim Shull, “we pile you, the fans, into an enormous stretch limo – and you’re off.”

To justify having such an attraction in an area themed to 1940s Hollywood, the Imagineers came up with an interesting storyline that neither the guests nor the cast ever adopted and has been largely ignored and forgotten.

The queue line is themed to G-Force records, a fictional record company that was supposedly started in the 1930s. (The intercom calls for people are the names of Imagineers who worked on the attraction.) G-Force was known for attracting the best of the best in recording artists and became a growing force in the industry.

Things however took a turn for the worse on Halloween night 1939. While throwing a party at the neighboring Hollywood Tower Hotel (Twilight Zone Tower of Terror), a strange incident occurred where lightning struck the building and five hotel guests mysteriously disappeared. The hotel was closed and the public felt that somehow G-Force was responsible and their record sales plummeted.

Over time G-Force as a business began to re-emerge and rebuilt the existing studio, adding a giant forty-foot Stratocaster as its icon. Today at G-Force many of the top recording stars can be found using the state of the art facilities.

G-Force (with the “g” from “gravitational”) is a measurement of type of acceleration that causes weight like during a rocket launch. The guests on the attraction experience 4.5 Gs, more than an astronaut does on a space shuttle launch.

Aerosmith band members Steve Tyler and Joe Perry rode the attraction twelve times in a row and made several changes primarily to the recording studio pre-show to make it more realistic including the location of the guitars.

The vehicles have a built-in audio system that includes 125 speakers, 24 sub-woofers (one under each seat) and more than 32k watts of audio amplifier output.

Each vehicle features a different Aerosmith song or medley. Tracks are: “Nine Lives”; “Sweet Emotion”; a “Back in the Saddle”/”Dude Looks Like a Lady” medley; a “Love in an Elevator”/”Walk This Way” medley; and a “Young Lust”/”F.I.N.E.”/”Love in an Elevator” medley. Tyler and Perry were involved in the re-recording of the songs including changing the lyrics so that it is now “Love in a Roller Coaster”.

Aerosmith was chosen for the attraction because they had supplied two songs (“I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” and “What Kind of Love Are You On”) for the soundtrack album of the 1998 Touchstone Pictures film Armageddon so they were already connected with Disney. It was rumored that Disney first approached the Rolling Stones, but logistic and financial issues like paying for the rights to their songs derailed that deal.

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Thanks, Jim! And come back next Friday for even more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew, which reprints much material first written for this site, and The Vault of Walt: Volume 4, and his contributions to The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit, all published by Theme Park Press.

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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: MAY 21 TO MAY 29, 2016

The material below details next week’s Disney World operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

Note that typos happen, and schedules change! If something seems odd, or if you want to double check, use the calendar links near the bottom to get the latest official Disney World scoop.

For more on May 2016 at Disney World, see this.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/21-5/29/2016

The Magic Kingdom will be open from 9a-12MN 5/21, 9a-11p 5/22, 9a-12MN 5/23, 9a-11p 5/24 through 5/26, and 9a-12MN 5/27 through 5/29

Epcot will be open from 9a-9p every day

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 9a-10p 5/21 through 5/25, 9a-8.30p 5/26, and 9a-10p 5/27 through 5/29

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 9a-6.30p 5/21 and 5/22, 9a-6p 5/23 through 5/26, and 9a-11p 5/27 through 5/29

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/21-5/29/2016

Saturday 5/21 Morning:  Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

Sunday 5/22 Morning:  Hollywood Studios  Evening: none

Monday 5/23 Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: Epcot

Tuesday 5/24 Morning: none Evening:  Epcot

Wednesday 5/25 Morning:  none  Evening:  Magic Kingdom

Thursday 5/26 Morning: Epcot Evening: none

Friday 5/27 Morning:  Magic Kingdom Evening: Hollywood Studios

Saturday 5/28 Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

Sunday 5/29  Morning: Hollywood Studios Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/21-5/29/2016

The Magic Kingdom:

• Afternoon Festival of Fantasy Parade: 3p every day
• Evening Main Street Electrical Parade: 9p  5/21; 9a and 11p 5/22; 9p 5/23; 9 and 11p 5/24 through 5/26; 10p 5/27; 9p 5/28 and 5/29

FIREWORKS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/21-5/29/2016

Wishes at the Magic Kingdom: 10p 5/21 through 5/26; 9p 5/27; 10p 5/28 and 5/29

IllumiNations at Epcot: 9p every night

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9p 5/21 through 5/26; 9 and 10.30p 5/27 and 5/28; 9p 5/29

Symphony in the Stars at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9.45p 5/22, 5/23, 5/25, 5/27 and 5/28

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/21-5/29/2016

See Steve Soares’ site here. Click the park names at its top for show schedules.

LONG RANGE WEATHER FORECAST FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/21-5/29/2016

See this for forecasts.

DISCLAIMER

Everything is subject to change and typos! Check the Disney Calendars for updates and official schedules. These calendars can be found by clicking the following links:

• Magic Kingdom Calendar
• Hollywood Studios Calendar
• Animal Kingdom Calendar
• Epcot Calendar

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“I’ve long said that Dave has the absolute best Disney resort room information I have found!” –Didi Marie, DIStherapy

In my late April trip, I checked out the status of ongoing or recently completed work at Fort Wilderness (the Cabins in Loop 2100) the Wilderness Lodge (refurb status), the Polynesian Village (the new Oasis pool) and Port Orleans French Quarter (the new kids water play area).

I also stayed in a standard room at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge (my fourth stay here), and in both a Studio and a One Bedroom Villa at newly-refurbed the Jambo House Villas there (fifth stay in the Jambo House Villas).

Major updates to the review of the Animal Kingdom Lodge and the review of Jambo House Villas came out a couple of weeks ago, and I also since added minor updates to the reviews of the Wilderness Lodge, Polynesian, Cabins at Fort Wilderness, and Port Orleans French Quarter.

I am thus at one of those rare moments where all of my hotel reviews are up to date, and I thought to step back a bit and reflect.

Over the course of this visit, the total number of Disney World-owned different accommodations I have stayed in and published about crossed more than 125.

This matters because universally the weakest part of most Disney World guidebooks and websites is their material on where to stay, and that’s what I am trying to avoid.

One person staying repeatedly in all the rooms and in all their major variants (e.g. at Port Orleans Riverside standard rooms, five-person rooms, and Royal rooms) is the only way to develop a complete, consistent, up to date and accurate picture of the hotel options and their strong and weak points.

Reading and copying other people’s experiences just won’t cut it, and those whose approach depends on this routinely publish howlers and generally get too many things wrong. I can think of one site (whose owner has very little actual Disney World experience) that that claimed that Fort Wilderness is a monorail resort, and that the Contemporary is one of the least expensive deluxe resorts!

(If my site, The Unofficial Guide, TouringPlans.com, The easy Guide, and easyWDW.com didn’t exist, copying would be even more inaccurate.)

Even having your own team of reviewers doesn’t always work well, as they can’t compare across their own direct experiences the way a single reviewer can, leading them to miss comparative floor plan nuances or even major differences. There’s more than a few major sites and books that still claim that the Animal Kingdom Lodge and Wilderness Lodge rooms have the same floor plan. They are similar…but not the same (the coffeemakers and connecting doors are swapped).

Consistently good and up to date material on the Disney hotel options is sadly rare, partly because it takes major, multi-year commitments of time, attention and money.

Luckily, I have been able to create the time, Adderall helps with the attention thing, and you, because of your support of the book, your patronage of the site’s the various sponsors (like Kelly B and The Official Ticket Center), and your interest in the ads on this site, create the money that in turn I spend trying to keep this hotel material great and up to date.

I’ve now stayed in and reviewed 126 different Disney-owned accommodations at Disney World, plus even more non-Disney options.

This includes

• 25 value resort rooms and family suites, with my most highly recommended value resorts Art of Animation and Pop Century in the lead with 6 and 8 stays respectively
• 32 rooms at the moderates, led by 9 in Port Orleans Riverside and 8 at my top-ranked Caribbean Beach
• 31 stays at the deluxe resorts, led by 7 at the Contemporary and 4 at the top ranked Polynesian
• 34 different DVC rooms, mostly Two Bedrooms Villas–the best to review, as they show features of One Bedroom Villas and Studios as well–but where they were not bookable, a One Bedroom and a Studio, led by top ranked (but currently refurb-marred) Villas at the Wilderness Lodge with 6 stays
• Stays at 4 campsites at Fort Wilderness (my 5 stays in the Cabins are counted among the moderates.)

In the last 16 months—that is, in 2015, and in 2016 so far—I’ve stayed in 19 different Disney World-owned spaces (and 6 more non-Disney but on-property spaces, like the Swan and Shades of Green).

Most of these stays were driven by major or minor refurbs (for example stays at the Polynesian Studios, BoardWalk Villas, Jambo House Villas, Caribbean Beach, Beach Club, Fort Wilderness Cabins), and the rest came about either because it had been a couple of years since I’d stayed, lousy photos, or both.

What’s next?

• Well, there are more refurbs expected this year—at the Beach Club Villas, Kidani Village, the Yacht Club, Coronado Springs, and the Swan among others.
• Some of my pictures could be better—standard rooms at the Polynesian, for example
• And every year another group of places moves on to the list of rooms I just haven’t been to in a couple of years, like Saratoga Springs and All-Star Sports.

So, as always lots, to keep up with….Plus I also do requests!

For links to reviews of all the hotels, see this, and for more on where to stay at Disney World, start here.

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Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians and author of Jim’s Gems in The easy Guide, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

KALI RIVER RAPIDS

By Jim Korkis

The Asia area opened at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 1999 and included the popular water ride Kali River Rapids.

Just as Walt Disney originally wanted live animals on the Jungle Cruise ride at Disneyland, Imagineers initially developed an attraction called Tiger Rapids Run for DAK. The attraction would be a water safari on large raft-like vehicles giving guests a different view of the tiger habitat as well as encounters with other animals before finishing by shooting the rapids and a drop that felt “like the bottom has dropped out of the river” according to project director Joe Rohde.

There are still examples of tigers in the final attraction including multiple references in the queue line as well as carved images on top of the wooden pagoda where guests board the rafts. Of course, the final animal stone sentinel at the top of the ninety foot lift at the beginning of the ride is a tiger at the entrance to Tiger Bay.

Even though it was planned as a much longer ride than the version that was finally built, Imagineers decided that because of the speed of the attraction, guests might only see animals for fleeting seconds and that the noise and movement from the guests and the vehicles might disturb the animals.

So the attraction was changed into a botanical expedition where guests could enjoy the scenic beauty of the forest and then be shocked at how it is being ravaged and burned by illegal logging just as Africa’s Kilimanjaro Safaris told the story of the dangers of poaching. Basically, the ride became an ecotourism experience with the sound of wildlife coming from hidden speakers.

All of this is explained in a voice-over during the queue line by the fictional owner:

“Hello, my name is Manisha Gurung. I am the founder and manager of Kali Rapids Expeditions. When you board one of our rafts, you can look forward to an exciting, safe and very wet trip down a stretch of beautiful river. My team and I believe that our river rides are more than just an exciting adventure. We believe they help spread a message to visitors about preserving wild places. Like our forest.

“All around Anandapur, logging companies in search of tropical hardwood have bitten deep into the jungle. When this happens, the traditional life of the village and forest is destroyed forever. I created this river rafting experience to demonstrate that there are nondestructive ways to bring revenue to the village because the more people like you care, the better chance our jungle has of surviving. Thanks for choosing Kali Rapids Expeditions. We hope your journey will show you a world that is truly worth saving.”

Guring and her family live in a house elevated on stilts near the entrance of the attraction. Since Guring is busy elsewhere, she fails to hear that the logging has gotten too close to the river so is not there to stop guests from being dispatched.

This ride was manufactured by Intamin (INTernational AMusement Installations), a Swiss company noted for thrill rides and roller coasters. It built the very first “river rapids ride” Thunder River for AstroWorld in 1980. The company was also responsible for Grizzly River Run at Disney’s California Adventure in 2001.

(c) Disney

Each circular raft with colorful individual names like Sherpa Surfer, Kali Bumper Car, and Manaslu Slammer seat twelve people around the perimeter as geysers, waterfalls, statues of water carriers and squirting elephants soak the guests.

The bobbing up and down and spinning journey goes down the Chakranadi meaning the “river that flows in a circle” in Sanskrit which is why the rafts return to the same place they disembarked. The name Kali refers to the Hindu Goddess of destruction referencing the smoldering charred tree trunks that originally featured fire effects.

Be warned that no matter what precautions you take, you will get wet but you MIGHT get soaked depending upon the twists and turns of fate.

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Thanks, Jim! And come back next Friday for even more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew, which reprints much material first written for this site, and The Vault of Walt: Volume 4, and his contributions to The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit, all published by Theme Park Press.

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Google+ or Twitter or Pinterest!!

DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: MAY 14 TO MAY 22, 2016

The material below details next week’s Disney World operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

Note that typos happen, and schedules change! If something seems odd, or if you want to double check, use the calendar links near the bottom to get the latest official Disney World scoop.

For more on May 2016 at Disney World, see this.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/14-5/22/2016

The Magic Kingdom will be open from 9a-12MN 5/14 and 5/15, 9a-11p 5/16 through 5/19, 9a-12MN 5/20 and 5/21, and 9a-11p 5/22

Epcot will be open from 9a-9p every day

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 9a-9p 5/14, 9a-10p 5/15 and 5/16, 9a-8.30p 5/17, 9a-10p 5/18, 9a-8.30p 5/19, and 9a-10p 5/20 through 5/22

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 9a-6.30p 5/14 and 5/15, 9a-6p 5/16 through 5/19, and 9a-6.30p 5/20 through 5/22

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/14-5/22/2016

Saturday 5/14 Morning:  Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

Sunday 5/15 Morning:  Hollywood Studios  Evening: none

Monday 5/16 Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: Epcot

Tuesday 5/17 Morning: none Evening:  Epcot

Wednesday 5/18 Morning:  none  Evening:  Magic Kingdom

Thursday 5/19 Morning: Epcot Evening: none

Friday 5/20 Morning:  Magic Kingdom Evening: Hollywood Studios

Saturday 5/21 Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

Sunday 5/22  Morning: Hollywood Studios Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/14-5/22/2016

The Magic Kingdom:

• Afternoon Festival of Fantasy Parade: 3p every day
• Evening Main Street Electrical Parade: 9p 5/14 and 5/15; 9 and 11p 5/16 through 5/19; 9p 5/20 and 5/21; 9a and 11p 5/22

FIREWORKS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/14-5/22/2016

Wishes at the Magic Kingdom: 10p every night

IllumiNations at Epcot: 9p every night

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9p every night

Symphony in the Stars at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9.45p  5/15, 5/16, 5/18, 5/20 and 5/22

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/14-5/22/2016

See Steve Soares’ site here. Click the park names at its top for show schedules.

LONG RANGE WEATHER FORECAST FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 5/14-5/22/2016

See this for forecasts.

DISCLAIMER

Everything is subject to change and typos! Check the Disney Calendars for updates and official schedules. These calendars can be found by clicking the following links:

• Magic Kingdom Calendar
• Hollywood Studios Calendar
• Animal Kingdom Calendar
• Epcot Calendar

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Google+ or Twitter or Pinterest

The prices for the 2016 Mickey’s Not-So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party came out last week, and these parties are now available for booking.

While new 2016 complexity makes price comparisons to 2015 a little complicated (the link also includes exact prices by date), especially for the Halloween Party, by comparing like months (e.g all parties in September 2016 vs. all parties in September 2015), I get the following:

• September MNSSHP: up around 10%
• October MNSSHP except Halloween night: up around 10%
• Halloween night MNSSHP: up around 20%
• November MVMCP: up around 20%
• December MVMCP: up around 25%

(All these are calculated by comparing the weighted average prices for all parties during the period in 2016 vs all parties in the same period in 2015. I did the math for both adult and child tickets, and for each of advance purchase and day of event tickets.  The price increases by month across all four of these categories were about the same.)

These Halloween and Christmas party price increases continue the trend of very aggressive price increases that  began with the release of 2016 resort prices last summer.

In my itineraries, I’ve viewed the Halloween party as optional and the Christmas party as essential.

The price increase reinforces my Halloween take, and makes me a little skeptical about the Christmas party.  I’ll be rebuilding my basic December itineraries in the next few weeks (after Disney publishes its operating schedule for then).

I will be testing the practicality of sending people to the cheapest dates, and also have an idea or two about reducing other costs (no lighty hats for you!) to help with affordability.  I’ll go through all that and will make the final call in a couple of weeks. …

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