The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (attraction)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh/Pooh's Hunny Hunt | |
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| Land | Fantasyland/Critter Country |
| Theme Parks | Walt Disney Parks |
| Locations and Opening Dates | |
| Magic Kingdom | June 5, 1999 |
| Tokyo Disneyland | September 4, 2000 |
| Disneyland | April 11, 2003 |
| Hong Kong Disneyland | September 12, 2005 |
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is a dark ride based upon the film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, itself based on the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne. The attraction exists at the Magic Kingdom park in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA; the Disneyland park in Anaheim, California, USA; the Hong Kong Disneyland park in China; and the Tokyo Disneyland park in Japan as Pooh's Hunny Hunt.
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[edit] History
After the rise in popularity of Walt Disney's film adaptation of Winnie the Pooh, Disney Imagineers made plans in the late 1970s for a Winnie the Pooh attraction at Disneyland's soon-to-be renovated Fantasyland. However in 1983, when the renovated Fantasyland reopened, a Winnie the Pooh attraction was notably absent.
Fifteen years later, during a period when the character was undergoing a resurgence in popularity, plans for a Winnie the Pooh attraction were approved at a different park: Walt Disney World. That park's Magic Kingdom, much larger than the original Disneyland's, would have easily had the space to accommodate a new attraction. However, planners instead decided to utilize an existing structure, that of the Fantasyland attraction Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.
When some fans found out that Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was being shuttered for a Pooh attraction, they protested against its closure, organizing mass ridings along with peaceful protests. Despite cries from fans, the Walt Disney Company went ahead with its plans and the first The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction opened in June of 1999, proving popular with younger crowds.
The next version of the attraction, considerably different in configuration, was Pooh's Hunny Hunt, which opened in Tokyo Disneyland. Due to a closure of most of the Skyways at Disney Parks across the world, including Tokyo, a space was left in its place. With a large budget and advanced technology, Pooh's Hunny Hunt opened in late 2000, to large crowds and praise by many Disney internet fansites. To date, the attractions continues to have some of the longest wait times of any attraction at the Tokyo Disney Resort.
The only solution to complete the growing roster was to bring the Winnie the Pooh attraction to Disneyland. An original plan from the mid 1990s, had an indoor and outdoor light boat ride featuring a Winnie the Pooh theme, was shelved by 1999. So a new dark ride was planned. However Disneyland is the only resort of all five Disney Resorts to have little room for expansion. The only solution to open an attraction in the park, was to utilize a current attraction.
Fantasyland was ruled out because it contained the least amount of available space, and because of the age of its buildings; park managers anticipated that the attraction would be popular and decided to place it in an area that could better accommodate the crowds. Critter Country, a small parcel between New Orleans Square and Frontierland was ultimately chosen, since Winnie the Pooh already had his own greeting area in that area. The area already featured two popular attractions, Splash Mountain and Country Bear Jamboree. The latter being the first attraction to open in the land (then Bear Country) in 1972.
Imagineers chose to replace Country Bear Jamboree with Pooh at the site due to its lack of popularity, which would required major excavation for space and leveling for the ride. When news of the former attraction's demise broke, many fans were once more upset at the loss of a classic attraction (in this case, one of the last created by Walt Disney himself), and again sought to change the park manager's minds. However, then-managers Cynthia Harris and Paul Pressler, both unpopular with Disneyland enthusiasts, ignored this and continued.
The budget for the attraction was set at a reported $30,000,000, most of it dedicated to reformatting the Country Bear Playhouse. When it finally opened in 2003, the attraction was opened with large promotion by park management and lines were somewhat long at first but quickly dropped off. Its turnover rate with guests was low compared to older dark rides in Fantasyland.
Some Disneyland enthusiast websites are generally critical off the attraction, considering it cheap and a bad reminder of the Paul Pressler/Cynthia Harris era of Disneyland management. However for younger and other guests, the ride is considered fun and another addition to the Disney park. Some columnists still poke fun at it, by posting images of the attractions average wait time of 2 or 5 minutes, while other similar rides might have 30, 75, or even 90 minute waits, even on days where the park might be at full capacity.
Some of the rides' advocates have commented that the ride has low waits because it is hidden in the northwest corner of the park. Yet said location is adjacent to Splash Mountain, one of the most visited attractions in the park, and near the Haunted Mansion, another popular classic attraction. However, amongst all four versions of the attraction, it is the least popular.
Hong Kong Disneyland, which opened in September 2005, opened with The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh as the only dark ride in the entire park. It was based on a variety of versions of the attraction, but is most similar to the first version at the Magic Kingdom. Although since joined by another dark ride in the park, and planned attractions in Fantasyland, it remains one of the most visited attractions in Fantasyland.
[edit] Ride walkthroughs
[edit] Florida
The ride vehicles go out of the load area, and arrive near a giant story-book showing Winnie-the-Pooh and Christopher Robin. The vehicles arrive in the Hundred Acre Wood during a rather blustery day, with Piglet holding onto a broom while being spun around. Pooh is holding onto a balloon while trying to reach for some honey, while Eeyore patronises him. Meanwhile Roo begins to be blown away as Kanga holds onto him. In Owl's home, everything is scattered about, including a rather curious picture of J. Thaddeus Toad himself handing a deed over to owl. There is also a picture of Winnie the Pooh greeting Moley (Mr. Toad's sidekick), which is flat on the floor to the right. These were placed as a tribute to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, the ride that Winnie the Pooh replaced.
The ride then passes a second giant storybook page, where suddenly Tigger bounces out, whilst the ride vehicles begin to bounce like Tigger. The ride follows Tigger through the Hundred Acre Wood, where he randomly pops up. Tigger bounces upside down at one point, before the ride moves on to Pooh's home. It transpires that Tigger has pinned Pooh to the floor as he tells him about Heffalumps and Woozles. Once in Pooh's house, Pooh falls asleep, and magically floats up into the sky, as the room blackens (Pooh's floating is achieved by Fiber-Optics).
The ride vehicles then move into a strange room as Pooh floats through. There are objects with eyes and mouths, while giant woozles with jack-in-the-box necks move in front of the guests. The ride moves round some very strange objects: a purple woozle lights a heffalump, causing a giant smoke ring to come from its trunk, and a giant heffalump has holes that reveal the way out of the heffalump scene. Other funhouse effects are seen as the vehicles make an escape out of the heffalump scene, indicated by an umbrella and a watering can pouring rain over a pot of honey.
After this the vehicles arrive in a room painted with rain and cloud patterns, as thunder and lightning go off, and then reenters the Hundred Acre Wood, which is experiencing the rainstorm. The ride vehicles begin to "float", although this is achieved by moving the vehicles at a steady speed. Eeyore complains about the wind and then about the rain. Gopher squirts water out of his mouth. Roo, Rabbit, Tigger and Owl attempt to save Piglet from floating away, and the ride vehicles move to find Pooh flying around owing to the wind.
The vehicles move into the final scene, where everyone apart from Pooh is celebrating that the rain has gone away. Piglet, Eeyore and Rabbit are animatronics, while Tigger and Owl are illustrations on the wall behind. The vehicles move past Pooh enjoying a load of honey, before arrving back in the load area.
[edit] California
Upon leaving the outdoor load area, the ride vehicles arrive indoors into the Hundred Acre Wood where Pooh is again trying to get the honey with the balloon. With Eeyore and the other characters is Gopher who appears out of his hole to greet the guests. The ride vehicles move into the rain scene, moved from the second to last scene in Florida's to the second scene in California's. Most of the things at this point are identical to Florida's. The ride vehicles move into the shortened Tigger scene, before moving to Pooh's bedroom where a similar part to that in Florida's concurs.
The ride vehicles move into the Heffalump and Woozles dream sequence where the woozles with jack-in-the-box necks watch the guests. This version of the Heffalumps and Woozles scene focuses on the Heffalump and Woozle characters, with the absence of the objects with human eyes and mouths. A pink Tigger pins Pooh to the floor near some honey. Some of the effects at this part of the ride are similar to those at Florida's, minus a large balloon carrying Pooh above the guests. Instead, Pooh bobs up and down in a balloon suspended above a swirling whirlpool of honey. The mechanism was the one which once lowered "Teddi Barra" from the ceiling in Country Bear Jamboree, the Audio-Animatronic theater presentation previously housed in the show building.
As the ride vehicles leave this scene, a subtle tribute to Country Bear Jamboree is suspended above the archway. The trophy heads of Max the buck, Buff the buffalo and Melvin the moose, audio-animatronics from Country Bear Jamboree, may be spotted if one looks upward. The heads were not used in the attraction itself but hung in the "Mile Long Bar" snack shop once located outside the exit. The vehicles enter the start of the finale scene where Pooh is enjoying a smackerel of honey. The Heffalumps can be seen flying off into Pooh's dreamland, prior to several of Pooh's friends tell him to wake up. Proceeding on, the ride passes Pooh's bed, before moving on to show Pooh's friends (all animatronics this time round) celebrating his birthday. As the vehicles move to the load area, several of the gifts Pooh received for his party are shown, and are moved back as the vehicles continue until they finally reach the load area.
Interestingly, the ride travels past clips from the movie.
[edit] Hong Kong
The ride at Hong Kong is a copy of the rides at California and Florida.
[edit] Tokyo
See also Pooh's Hunny Hunt.
[edit] Attraction facts
- Grand opening:
- Magic Kingdom: June 5, 1999
- Tokyo Disneyland: September 4, 2000
- Disneyland: April 11, 2003
- Hong Kong Disneyland: September 12, 2005
- Designer: Walt Disney Imagineering
- Vehicle theme:
- Magic Kingdom: Honey Pot
- Tokyo Disneyland: Honey Pot
- Disneyland: Beehive
- Hong Kong Disneyland: Honey Pot
- Former attraction spot:
- Disneyland: Country Bear Jamboree
- Magic Kingdom: Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
- Tokyo Disneyland: Skyway (Disney)
- Ride system: Dark ride
