The Troll

Waldo C. Graphic. Considering the massive advances in CGI these days, that thing is embarrassingly dated. That Muppet Vision attraction is an interesting thing. The queue is outstanding, the pre-show is outstanding, and the animatronic things in the theater are outstanding, but the show itself ain't all that great. He was Tattoo's replacement on "Fantasy Island." The producers of that show had to fire Tattoo because he was abusive, uncooperative, confrontational, and kept propositioning the extras who played the hula girls for, you know, girl favors in exchange for money. True story.

Are there ground rules to this thread? It says, "Where in the world?" but DW is a very large place and I can find some very obscure photo subjects that NO ONE would be able to guess.

Oh, I agree with you 100%, but it doesn't change the fact that Oliver sucked. But the show was out of gas. The Brady Bunch kids were all too old and the story lines had all fizzled out. Oliver was a desperate attempt to inject a new "cute kid" into the equation. Same with Olivia on the Cosby Show. Olivia was a Rudy wannabe. But she could not hold a candle to Rudy's genuine cuteness. Olivia was a put on. Even so, when Olivia was introduced, that show still had a few more seasons left in the tank, unlike the Bradys. I agree with you on Bean but have to disagree on Elmo. Don't get me wrong..

Um...yikes.

Up arrow! Oliver sucked. Bean sucks. Goober sucked. Shemp sucked. Olivia sucked. Lawrence sucked. Anna sucks.

You know, while we're on the topic, who the hell is Bean, anyway? I mean, he plays a heavy role in the Muppet 3D thing, but he never played a prominent role on the TV show or the movies, did he? How did he and that annoying bouncing thing get to be stars of a Disney attraction?

The Troll absolutely approves of the Azalea Trail Maidens. The Troll is a big fan of grace, sophistication, class, and tradition. I agree the website design gets a C, or worse, but the girl's writing skills are exceptional. Very interesting read and very interesting that the group still exists in this day and age.

Great report as always, Andrew. There are so many great things about TCD trip reports. No one else can even come close to matching them. Funny, intelligent, creative, insightful, and pulls no punches. And lots of pretty pictures. Thanks for all the hard work.

Great report as always, Andrew. There are so many great things about TCD trip reports. No one else can even come close to matching them. Funny, intelligent, creative, insightful, and pulls no punches. And lots of pretty pictures. Thanks for all the hard work.

That article is a lot to do about a bunch of stilt bungalows, the insides of which most people -- like most Fort Fiends -- will never see the insides of. $3000-a-night-bungalows, a 50 seat bar serving $11 drinks, and a needlessly bulldozed-wide-open lobby. Dislike. I do like the new/old name and the new sign, though. So that's something. Amazing, isn't it, how success turns so many people into fans? Fans willing to pay $3000 a night to stay. When the place first opened in the 70s, they were worried about too much occupancy.

I don't think I like this one bit. Trees create charm. Lack of trees creates blight. I don't like this either. Stupid Magic Bands. Three rides per day...only one of them good...lines at the People Mover and Spaceship Earth...for real? The early shot of Elsa's Castle is off-the-charts good. Is the TCD Photographer Twin imparting some of her expertise?

You seem to forget -- Elsa is an elegant queen who doesn't have to fight her own battles. All she has to do is whip up an army of those evil snowmen and your dumb CGI character is smashed.

Can't we get the conversation back to something much more important, like how Elsa is so much better than Anna? Or how Anna kidnapped Olaf from Elsa? Or how great it would be to turn Spaceship Earth into a giant Olaf, with the geodesic sphere serving as Olaf's lower third? That would be bad ass. It could be animated and Olaf would welcome you to Epcot! They could speed up those cars in Spaceship Earth and turn it into a big sleigh ride!

Wow! I was thinking the same very thing! You and I think so much alike. Oh, wait. No we don't. Green? It looks yellow to me. Uh, oh. The internet is about to crack open again.

Time for a few more enhanced photos. Let's look at this one: It's interesting to me that this is a place and yet it isn't anymore. It's a place in the sense that it still exists on the face of the earth and the GPS coordinates are the same. But the "place" of my memory is long gone. Think about it. This is a beach with white sands. For twenty odd years, it was a beach. I remember I was standing at right about this very spot when I told my older sister in 1982 that I wanted a computer for Christmas. She couldn't understand why a 13 year old kid would want such a thing! So for twenty od

Our modern society is incapable of being dapper, even when it tries.

These photos that Deb posted really struck a chord with me because I started going to DW and the Fort as a child regularly somewhere around 1974 or 1975. We were regular visitors of River Country, and, wow, these photos have really taken me back. So I went out on a limb without Deb's permission and did some Photoshopping of the photos to sort of breathe some life back into them. I sure hope Deb doesn't mind I did this. I don't see why she would, but if she does, I'll take them down. In the meanwhile, here are the first of the set that I've enhanced, along with my commentary: The above p

Up arrow.

I'm sorry...who? Oh...yeah...you mean that character out of that movie that made less money than "Madagascar 3"! I gotcha now. Elsa = #1 animated movie of all time. Oh, and I agree -- Captain Eo sucks. And is disturbing. Michael Jackson = creep. Go away. Cheap Star Wars ripoff by the guy who allegedly wrote Star Wars.

Well, I think that's essentially what I'm saying -- get away from trying to showcase and/or exhibit the coming technology of tomorrow (which has all been realized) and instead make it more about science fantasy/space opera a la Dr. Who or Star Wars or Star Trek. In other words, shift from education/information to fun. Because let's face it -- humanity will never travel to other planets...not in the "go and come back" travel sense portrayed in Star Trek or Avatar. Not possible.

No offense and with all due respect, but whatever teacher told you this in the mid seventies was a nitwit, as we already proved in 1965 that rocket launched vehicles could arrive at Mars in a year or less when we sent Mariner 4 to Mars. Launched in 1964...got there in 1965.

Mmmmmm...Elsa... Check it out: The New World Order. Snow White? In the back, beyotch! Little Mermaid? You stand right there, behind my cape. Belle or whoever you are in that yellow dress? In the back! There's a new sheriff in town, girls. And notice the coattail rider is nowhere in sight.

I'm going to go ahead and go against the grain on this one (who, me?!?). I think the Future World part of Epcot was a bad idea from the get-go. Anything that themed on a vision of the future is bound to become dated in ten years or less. Notice I used the word "themed." Here's the problem Epcot Future World faces, as I see it: We've seen the future. We're living in it. I believe we've hit the glass ceiling of human advancement. When Walt conceived EPCOT, what consider today to be passe was then science fiction. There's an episode of the Andy Griffith Show that's in heavy syndication rotati

Kind of like miracles. Agree. The Star Wars Land makes a lot of sense, though. But it's a no brainer. They paid for it, might as well cash in on it. My hope above all hopes is that Disney fixes Star Wars by retconning the awful prequel movies. But I doubt that'll happen. Although I don't know why not. Very few, if any, of the prequel characters are marketable.

What the hell is Clooney looking at? The city is straight ahead, dumb ass.