[KentB3]

Goodbye Sawyer, Hello Sparrow

(from MiceAge.com)

But what has Rasulo fired up in the short term for Disneyland is the same thing that has nearly everyone in Burbank bursting with excitement, and that's the Billion dollar business the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise has just pulled in this summer.

In a theme park proposal that was crafted in the corporate offices of Burbank rather than the WDI design studios of Glendale, the Pirates franchise is planned to expand its presence at Disneyland for next summer's release of the third Pirates movie. While another tweak to the lavish 15 minute long E Ticket attraction was always part of the equation, much to the very noisy annoyance of some people at WDI, the corporate bosses are now eyeing an additional piece of property just across the Rivers of America from the ride itself in New Orleans Square.

The Burbank bigwigs have Tom Sawyer Island in their sights, and if the budget gets approved later this fall that 50 year old piece of Disneyland history will go the way of the Skyway and the House of the Future. What Burbank has proposed is an ambitious plan to restructure and retheme the island into a pirate playground, where Captain Barbossa and Davy Jones would displace the less than blockbuster Huck Finn and Becky Thatcher.

The current proposal calls for over 28 million to be spent this winter rebuilding and rebranding the Tom Sawyer themed attraction. Gone would be the treehouses, trails and caves referenced in the literary works of Mark Twain and originally designed for the simpler audiences of the 1950's. In their place would be snazzier pirate themed activities designed for the kids of the 21st century who have grown up with extreme sports and Super Mario Brothers instead of barrel hoops and Tom Sawyer. The current lush wooded landscaping would also presumably be substantially altered, as tropical islands don't quite match the southern American landscape.

Do Pirates even consider a raft or a canoe suitable for transportation?

This proposal has been moving very quickly (and up to now, quietly) through the approval process and at its core it's driven by the insane profits and audience interest the second Pirates movie generated this summer. Once Burbank made it clear they wanted this remade attraction for Disneyland to coincide with the third movie release next May, the operations folks jumped on the bandwagon and happily added in requests to upgrade the infrastructure and physical facilities on the Island.

It's no secret that the Island has needed a makeover and more modern facilities installed for quite some time, and this project is just the ticket to get those things paid for. New bathrooms and regraded trails to accommodate wheelchairs and electric carts were added to the plan, as well as a snack bar and a small shop to milk a few bucks out of the expected hordes of parents and their children. In almost a complete reversal of the normal way a new attraction is proposed, the marketers and merchandisers drafted the concept and the plans and the Imagineers are now left to struggle to come up with the actual designs and themes.

The dilapidated Fort Wilderness is targeted for Pirate renewal.

The proposal is so sweeping and moving so quickly that it may not all make it by next May. Part of the plan calls for the old Fort Wilderness facility to be razed, and the space used as an interactive pirate museum using exhibits and interactive play spaces such as those used in the Sorcerer's Workshop in DCA's Animation pavilion, or the nifty Fortress Explorations attraction at Tokyo DisneySea. That proposal for Fort Wilderness may be pushed into a Phase Two plan, which would be just fine with Burbank if they move forward on an as yet unscripted fourth installment of the Pirates movie series. And the word is that Johnny Depp is amenable to yet another sequel.

Of course, it'a a given that die-hard Disneyland fans will likely recoil in horror when they first hear about this idea. But what should be kept in mind is that this project would make a beloved old corner of Disneyland exciting and relevant again for a new generation of fans.

A few years ago Disneyland was forced to go in and remodel some of the play areas on the Island to bring them up to code and pass muster from Disney's own safety department. During that physical rehab and freshening the Disneyland Entertainment department also added live Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn characters to the Island, young men dressed up in 1800's clothing who wandered the island telling stories and jokes as written by Mark Twain. The response from some of the older parents was of bemused interest, but the 7 to 12 year old crowd whom the entertainment was aimed at couldn't figure out who the guys were dressed in the funny clothes and why they kept talking about whitewashing a fence. Does Home Depot even sell whitewash? Is Mark Twain available on a PodCast?

While the recent appearance of Tom and Huck on the Island was a noble attempt on Disneyland's part to try and bring Tom Sawyer to life for 21st century audiences, it was obvious these were characters no one under the age of thirty knew much about. Ask a ten year old today who Huck Finn is and you'll get a blank stare, but ask him about Jack Sparrow and you'll get a high five. And that's what has most folks in Imagineering (WDI) a little more excited about the project, as they would love to make sure Disneyland stays as fresh and exciting to audiences in 2006 as it was a half century ago. Rest assured there is a bit of controversy over this plan up and down the halls of WDI, but as this is being driven directly from Burbank apparently they don't have much say in the matter.

Now before you storm the MiceChat boards, just try to keep in mind that this still hasn't received the formal green light and funding from Burbank. But it's a project that is moving so quickly and with so much political muscle that it was important to bring to light now. It's also something that needs to be ready to open in just seven short months and there's plenty of work to do, so the formal decision will need to be made quickly, if it hasn't already been decided by the time you read this. We'll of course keep you informed if this gets the green light and we'll keep you in the loop as the endless details of the project get ironed out through the fall. (And yes I'm also wondering what'll happen to the Indian village out back, not to mention the itchy bear and every other river-side tableau.)

Do the Indians become Pirates, and lose their casinos?

Add to all that the inclusion of Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly animatronics to Pirates itself, plus the massive Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage that promises to be the talk of Southern California next summer, and the rather corny Rockin' Space Mountain and Rockin' California Screamin' overlays for this winter and spring, and suddenly Disneyland's dance card for the next year is very full.

The pirates movie premiere is slated for Southern California for a third time next May, although it may take on a different format than the previous two events. Some managers in Walt Disney World had lobbied to have the next premiere staged at their property, but they were shot down by Burbank executives who didn't want to put up with the hot and rainy Florida climate or the cost of flying in a dozen or two celebrities when they could have 100 celebs happily show up for a fraction of the cost in warm and dry Anaheim.

But this time, instead of staging the premiere inside Disneyland, the event may end up on the shoreline near Long Beach. If Rasulo has his way, they will have pulled the financials together and be able to use the movie premiere to announce that the third ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet is being built and will be home ported in Southern California. Regardless of where and when that announcement is made, it's a commitment that should be announced by next summer with a first year sailing itinerary slated for the end of this decade. You can expect summertime trips up to British Columbia and the Alaskan glaciers, and wintertime trips down the Mexican Riviera, all tied in to a few additional days at Disneyland.

A link to the full article, with pictures can be found at: MiceAge.com

[jenbarnwell]

I guess I will have to check this out when we go in January! Hopefulyl they don't close it!

[chris24]

i understand pirates is a big movie right now, but i would hate for them to go overboard, which is what i am afraid is going to happen.....

[Boss Mouse]

So the question would be "Is Pirates destined to be a classic as Tom Sawyer is now?" Do children still read TS?

[daisyd]

You know, I didn't like the idea of them changing POTC, but when I saw it in August, I really did like it. And the tree house, I LOVED Swiss Family Robinson when I was a kid, but Tarzan is what kids relate to now, and they are the ones climbing that stinking tree, not me, lol.

I have the same sort of knee jerk reaction to this news--to not want to like it. But really, what I want is for my kids to love the island as I did when I was a child, and if themeing it as a pirate island is the way to do it, so be it.
(oh, Boss, my son read TS this past summer).

Now, if they take the canoes away there is going to be trouble I'll picket and protest, lol.

[Andrea]

Originally Posted by daisyd

Now, if they take the canoes away there is going to be trouble I'll picket and protest, lol.

Me, too! I'm a canoe girl!

[disneycouple30]

I doubt that Tom Sawyer Island will leave. They use it for Fantamics at night and that is far more important than POC movies.

[chris24]

Originally Posted by daisyd

You know, I didn't like the idea of them changing POTC, but when I saw it in August, I really did like it. And the tree house, I LOVED Swiss Family Robinson when I was a kid, but Tarzan is what kids relate to now, and they are the ones climbing that stinking tree, not me, lol.

I have the same sort of knee jerk reaction to this news--to not want to like it. But really, what I want is for my kids to love the island as I did when I was a child, and if themeing it as a pirate island is the way to do it, so be it.
(oh, Boss, my son read TS this past summer).

Now, if they take the canoes away there is going to be trouble I'll picket and protest, lol.

i just do not want them to get so pirate gunh-ho that they ruin the park.

[daisyd]

Originally Posted by chris24

i just do not want them to get so pirate gunh-ho that they ruin the park.

I'd hate to see that too, but even though the pirate marketing boarders on overkill for me, I don't think (*yikes*) Disney would put all their eggs in one basket and make it too over the top...I hope

[MissDisney]

OK... everyone can throw tomatoes at me if you like. But I have to say that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this idea! Not only will it be fun to explore a pirate island, but it will be nice to have a new activity that cuts down on some traffic in a very congested area of WDW... if a few hundred people wander over tothe island, that's a littl emore elbow room around Splash, etc.

[MissDisney]

In fact, I wish they would take the old River Country and turn it into a Pirate-themed water park, which is a rumor that has been posted on these boards before!

[dznygrl]

Okay, now I'm REALLY wishing we would have hopped over to Tom Sawyer Island when we were there over the weekend. In all my life I've never been there...LOL...and I keep telling myself, "sometime they'll change that thing you know!"

Well whaddaya know.

It's funny to see yet another thing that the Pirates money is going to go towards. DH and I were commenting how there are A LOT of sudden changes in the park (like within the last 3 months), obvious results of a sudden surge of money in the company. It's actually quite refreshing!

I'm all for more Pirates stuff. I don't think Disney will go too over the top with it. It's going to die out eventually anyway, so let them get it out of their system now. We Pirates so for the moment, we'd love to see anything new with that theme!!

[diisneygeek]

Hmm, does anyone know when this is going to happen?

I've been to DL sooo many times, but I have never been on that island!

[Dopey]

The other day there was a thread called "too much sparrow" and this is what I had to say. Just copied and pasted because there's no reason to type the same thing again
I always have a hard time with change, period. Tom Sawyer island was always great, while my kids were small/younger.
Now, I doubt that we would go back there. But really it is a fun play area for little kids. Not too much going on, just kinda quiet. It takes the edge off for many over-stimulated kids. It's a god-sent to many parents. And it is away from people who might take offense if kids are a little rowdy and let off steam.
I think it should stay just the way it is. And not go crazy with wannabe pirates

[Dopey]

Originally Posted by MissDisney

In fact, I wish they would take the old River Country and turn it into a Pirate-themed water park, which is a rumor that has been posted on these boards before!

Now that would be a class act. That would be stupendous! Can you tell that I like that idea? Much better than changing Tom Sawyer island