Armchair Imagineering: Merlin's Magic Potions

A quick one this time, to demonstrate that not all Armchair Imagineering needs to be grandiose or E-ticket-worthy, or focused on currently popular characters/films.

This is an idea to spruce up the beverage cart that can usually be found in Disneyland’s Fantasyland, just north of King Arthur Carrousel. Odds are, it would work just as well in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, although I can’t make any detailed suggestions for its inclusion there as I am not familiar with it specifically.

Merlin’s Magic Potions would be a little larger than a standard beverage cart in order to accommodate the ingredients for its special offerings and decorative theming. It would be made to resemble a medieval market stall, made of faux wood with a striped awning and matching fronting, signage in a simplified version of the “gothic” lettering on the Carrousel sign, and a row of miniature heraldic shields around the edge of the awning.

Where it would stand out, however, is in its menu. In addition to the sodas, juices, and vitamin waters offered at all such carts, there would be the titular “potions,” made to order before the guest’s eyes. The guest chooses a flavor and a color separately, and the magic begins! First the Cast Member mixes soda water with a colorless flavored syrup and pours it over ice in a clear cup. Then, with a recitation of the magic words “Higitus Figitus,” he/she adds a “magic pill” that fizzes and dissolves in the soda water, turning it a delicate shade of pink, yellow, light green, or sky blue. But that’s just the beginning--each pill actually contains two shades of food coloring crystals in a double-layered sugar capsule. Even the Cast Member doesn’t know which bold shade--red, blue, orange, green, or purple--is hiding beneath the pastel layer. The element of surprise makes each serving a unique experience.

The same basic concept could also be used in Tomorrowland with a “chemistry” or “alien drinks” theme, or in Frontierland as the wagon of a traveling doctor selling “tonics.”

Imagineering Theory: The Sightlines of Fantasyland

This is an elaboration of this Micechat forum post.

In a previous post, I lamented the thematic mess that is present-day Tomorrowland (there's an ironic turn of phrase). Whatever your opinion of the individual attractions therein, there's no denying that it's a complete hodgepodge of concepts and design elements.

But the funny thing is, it's not the only area at Disneyland that has this issue. Take a look:

It's Fantasyland! What a charming little fairy tale village! But then...

Okay, getting weirder...

Wait, what?

How can all these vastly different design motifs be part of the same land? Were the planners drunk or what?

And how come we never notice how badly things clash when we're actually there?

To answer these questions: 1. Because that's how it worked out, 2. Probably not, 3. I'm getting to that.

After-Action Report: Mickey and the Magical Map

Let me tell you, a lot of us were worried we were never going to get our theatre back.

After a rocky start in the Eighties as Videopolis (mild-mannered performance venue by day—New Wave dance club by night!), the amphitheater across the way from “it's a small world” had settled well into being the Fantasyland Theatre. It was a perfect fixture to host musical shows inspired by Disney's animated movies (and sometimes network TV series) and suck some of those crowds off the walkways for around 25 minutes at a time. And some of those shows were great. Anyone else remember Animazement? The one from 1998 that was basically a love letter to the Disney Renaissance up until that point? Or how about the Snow White musical with the Magic Mirror as narrator?

But then 2006 arrived, and with it the “Year of a Million Dreams” promotion (which wound up lasting more like 2.5 years). The talking heads in charge reasoned that the #1 dream for little girls at Disneyland is being a princess, so the Fantasyland Theatre was revamped into the Princess Fantasy Faire. It should be noted that this was the first time the Disney Princess franchise had been promoted via an attraction (as opposed to a shop) since the brand was launched in 2000. It wasn't inherently terrible—there was a lot for kids to do there, and there was a cute little show attached in the form of the “Royal Coronation Ceremony”—but when the YoaMD ended, taking the Ceremony with it...the Princess Fantasy Faire stayed. Long-time fans of the park found this...let's be diplomatic and say suboptimal. As part of a temporary promotion that was all about making your dreams come true for a day, the Princess Fantasy Faire was all right. As a permanent attraction replacing the theatre, it was a lot less lovable.

Fortunately, wisdom prevailed. In 2013, an underutilized patch of land off the Plaza Hub was converted into a permanent Fantasy Faire, and the Princess offerings moved there. The Fantasyland Theatre was free to reclaim its name and re-open with a new show: "Mickey and the Magical Map."

Kidnap the Magic: A Good Old-Fashioned New Orleans (Square) Mardi Gras

Quick! What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think about New Orleans?

Well, if you're a Disneyland nut like me (and you probably are, or you wouldn't be reading this blog), you immediately think “Square” and then start singing “Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)” and/or “Grim Grinning Ghosts” until they throw you out of Macy's. But beyond that...there are still a lot of answers. New Orleans is one of the most culturally distinctive cities in the United States, if not the most. Everyone knows what kind of music (jazz, particularly the Dixieland variety), food (gumbo and jambalaya, to start with), and religion (Voodoo) comes from there. But no matter where your interests lie, there's one thing that's certain to make your New Orleans Free Association Top Ten, and that's Mardi Gras.

It wasn't until fairly recently that this holiday caught on anywhere else in the U.S. I blame Protestant dominance—Protestants don't observe Lent* and hence have no need for a last-ditch hedonistic bash before the austerities commence. As general hedonism has become fashionable in the modern day, Americans of all stripes will take any excuse they can get for a drinking party, but all the same, Mardi Gras has been indelibly stamped as a New Orleans tradition. Wherever in the country you live, when you decide to throw a Mardi Gras party, you're sort of committing yourself to serving shrimp and mint juleps and playing jazz.

But that doesn't mean you can't put a special spin on it. In this, the first of (hopefully) many Kidnap the Magic project ideas, I'll instruct you, fellow Disneyland fan, in how to make your Mardi Gras party not just a taste of New Orleans, but a taste of New Orleans Square.

* An alternate hypothesis is that they observe Lent all year-round.