Originally Posted By Mr X Thought this might be a fun topic. I was chatting with someone about the two Indy Jones rides (at Disneyland and DisneySea), and that poster wrote about the color scheme and effects "they have a cooler one because of the restrictions on indoor fire in Japan". To which I replied, "I have a funny feeling this is just the Disney fans version of an urban legend", "after all, Journey to the Center of the Earth has indoor fire effects nearby". Another "urban legend" over in Japan was about Splash Mountain not being very spashy. Many, MANY posters commented "this is due to the fact that Japanese people don't like getting wet". This continued until the Tokyo parks started having summer "soak" parades and shows where the crowds got utterly DOUSED with water (much moreso than I've ever seen in America) much to the delight of all the park-goers. One possible explanation my friend came up with was "well, Japanese people don't like getting wet when they aren't expecting it". Which might make sense (and certainly isn't exclusive to Japanese people), but at the same time doesn't really "explain" Splash Mountain not being very splashy...since you can SEE the drop from all around and anyone preparing to ride would probably be well aware of it (and prepared with a poncho or whatever, like at the shows). SO, there are a couple from my neck of the woods. Any other fun urban legends we could chat about?
Originally Posted By Mr X ***that poster wrote about the color scheme and effects "they have a cooler one because of the restrictions on indoor fire in Japan"*** Oops. That doesn't read well out of context. He was referring to the "cooler" color scheme. Here's the link anyway, although the overall discussion hasn't much to do with my topic. <a href="http://mb.laughingplace.com/MsgBoard-T-94848-P-3.asp?c=1" target="_blank">http://mb.laughingplace.com/Ms gBoard-T-94848-P-3.asp?c=1</a>
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << Another "urban legend" over in Japan was about Splash Mountain not being very splashy. >> I didn't think it was so much about the Japanese not like to get wet as it was about the fact that Japanese tend to dress in nicer clothes to visit the parks -- clothes you might not want to get doused with water even though you want to ride all the rides. Is this a better explanation, or do the Japanese dress in the same t-shirt and shorts like in America?
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<I didn't think it was so much about the Japanese not like to get wet as it was about the fact that Japanese tend to dress in nicer clothes to visit the parks>> In my observations, they do dress nicer, but still casually. I think the reason Splash is less splashy is simply because it can be colder in Tokyo during the winter, so they designed the splashdown with that in mind.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy I thought DL's Splash Mountain was designed to account for cool weather (not cold weather) in So. Cal. Some of the Splash effects are turned off in winter.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Some of DL's effects may be turned off in the winter, but I can assume you that I rode it Thursday night (it was probably about 60 degrees out), and I got soaked. It had been a fairly warm day, but by no means hot. I've noticed that at night when fewer people are riding, you tend to get more wet, so I don't know if they could do anything about that. As for Indy in Japan, it might have to do with the ammount of effects that they have in DL's version. I have no idea what the actual regulations are, but it seems that there is more stuff in DL's Indy than in JTTCOTE. The effects in Journey are fairly minimal (just a couple quick flares if I remember correctly), while DL's Indy has much larger flares, and more of them, since they are going off next to several vehicles all around the main room. If they are only allowed to use minimal ammounts of fire inside, it would make sense that they wanted to just avoid it all together and go in a different direction entirely.
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Originally Posted By trekkeruss I don't think I know any. Of course there are the common ones listed on snopes: <a href="http://www.snopes.com/disney/parks/parks.asp" target="_blank">http://www.snopes.com/disney/p arks/parks.asp</a>
Originally Posted By FerretAfros There's always the brass spike in the ground in Fantasyland. Some people say it's the geographic center of Disneyland, but it appears to be too far north to have been from before the Toontown expansion, but it's centered on Main Street, so it would need to have been from before New Orleans Square. The popular idea was that it was just a survey marker, but as someone pointed out in one of the trivia sections, apparently there is no official documentation of that. In fact, Dave Smith of the Disney Archives even said that he didn't know and neither did WDI, so who knows what it's actually there for.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros His head is actually in front of the castle, in the Time Castle that they buried for the 40th.
Originally Posted By barboy "Gee...an urban legend that got the red pen! Wish I'd seen what it was! " It was mine, X. It was tagged because of a word that rhymed with "Stitch". Anyway I said that there is more truth than fiction to the idea that OLC wanted their Splash to not drench guests due to Tokyo's colder weather compared to Anaheim and Orlando. OLC wasn't going to go for straight line loading in the logs either like in Anaheim due to cultural issues. Thus, they opted for th side-by-side seating like Orlando's.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Another "urban legend" over in Japan was about Splash Mountain not being very spashy. Many, MANY posters commented "this is due to the fact that Japanese people don't like getting wet". >>> I think this particular issue is much more than urban legend. Even if it's not true, or doesn't tell the whole truth, it has been promoted as the truth by official Disney spokesmen in such venues as Travel Channel specials on TDR. <<< This continued until the Tokyo parks started having summer "soak" parades and shows where the crowds got utterly DOUSED with water (much moreso than I've ever seen in America) much to the delight of all the park-goers. >>> I think that the parades and shows are very different. First of all, not everyone gets soaked - you can choose to enjoy the parade or show outside of the wet zone. Plus, a seasonal entertainment piece is very different from a 10 billion yen permanent E-ticket, which needs to have much broader appeal. Regarding the Indy fire issue, who knows? It certainly sounds reasonable on the face of it, until you bring up the JTTCOTE comparison. And since they were constructed at the same time, you can't even blame changing regulations over time. Speaking of which, it's interesting to see how changing regulations affects the parks over time. I remember when I first went to TDL in 1995, I noticed how prominent the emergency exit signs were in dark places such as HM and POTC, and that California law seemed to have much more accommodating standards. Now, it's the opposite: DL has had to brighten the emergency exit signs in dark places, and Japan has changed regulations to allow for dim or off emergency signs as long as they post a placard at the ride's entrance that explains that the signs will turn on automatically in the event of an emergency.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***it has been promoted as the truth by official Disney spokesmen in such venues as Travel Channel specials on TDR*** Interesting. I didn't know that. I would imagine it's possible that the spokesmen didn't really know either, as I've heard some rather fishy explanations of stuff (from Disney reps in America) that really didn't make sense once I got to Japan and lived here for a while. OR, maybe it IS true. (??) ***I think that the parades and shows are very different. First of all, not everyone gets soaked - you can choose to enjoy the parade or show outside of the wet zone.*** True enough, although I've personally seen people get drenched, quite unexpectedly, way outside the "wet zone" from a bunch of pranksters on a boat. They didn't seem to mind though. Interesting stuff about those codes. I really wish that weren't such an issue (I'm sure there are good reasons WHY they should have brightly lit exit signs, but I also think they should make an exception for Disney with their focus on "immersion", so long as Disney makes sure to keep things safe).
Originally Posted By jonvn "but as someone pointed out in one of the trivia sections, apparently there is no official documentation of that" It has to be a survey marker, its position makes no other sense. Either that, or there was some secret masonic ritual involving Walt Disney and a goat.
Originally Posted By barboy "I think this particular issue is much more than urban legend. Even if it's not true, or doesn't tell the whole truth, it has been promoted as the truth by official Disney spokesmen in such venues as Travel Channel specials on TDR." I'll go with that since I got my info from the somewhat new Disney book devoted to "mountains" in all the parks. All 3 Splash Mountains were addressed(as well as Space Mnts, Thunder Mnts, Mnt. Prom, Matterhorn and Everest). As for the IJ fire/no fire I really have no idea.
Originally Posted By dl1956 >>"but as someone pointed out in one of the trivia sections, apparently there is no official documentation of that" It has to be a survey marker, its position makes no other sense. Either that, or there was some secret masonic ritual involving Walt Disney and a goat.<< Ahh, so that's why Clarence was gone.
Originally Posted By dresswhites walt is frozen underneath pirates of the carribean. or my personal favorite, the matterhorn is built on a sink hole and it is sinking. they can't drain the sub lagoon or else the matterhorn will collapse. i guess this one was proven false when they drained the lagoon to build nemo.
