The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Places on Earth (64 page)

The primeval foliage and
dark backgrounds, the steaming waterways and the glowing-lava effect all serve to immerse us in an ancient time–and a stirring score by legendary composer
Bernard Herrmann
doesn’t hurt!

Herrmann
scored
Disney
’s 1961 live-action film
Mysterious Island
, and that’s the music we hear in
Primeval World
, but he’s even better known for his superlative scores for Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpieces “Vertigo” (1958) and “Psycho” (1960).  He also composed the music for 20
th
Century Fox’s 1960 film “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” episodes of the “Twilight Zone” series, and the black-and-white science fiction classic “The Day the Earth Stood Still”.  When it comes to evoking mystery and danger,
Herrmann
is the goods, and his music is a perfect accompaniment to
Primeval World
.

As with the preceding
Grand Canyon Diorama
,
Primeval World
is separated from the train by enormous panes of glass.  Please don’t disrupt the view (yours and other Guests’) by taking flash photographs!

Primeval World
is housed along a tunnel behind
Space Mountain
,
Disneyland
’s hidden administrative quarters, and the backs of the
Main Street Opera House
and the
Main Street Bank
(now the
Disney Gallery
).  The train emerges from the tunnel and glides along the
berm
, flanked by a final stretch of trees and foliage, coming to rest back at the beginning, the
Main Street Train Station
.

If you’ve just completed the
Grand Circle Tour
of the entire park, you’re probably eager to detrain, whether you’re heading out of the park at the end of a busy day, or heading back into the park to enjoy some of the exciting adventures you glimpsed from your train car.

As mentioned above, you can board the
Disneyland Railroad
at any of its stations and ride it around and around the park as long as you like.  So if you and your party want to see it all again (and the trip does reward multiple journeys), stay seated, keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle, and get ready for another amazing ride! 
Did You Know?
 
Walt
called his backyard miniature train line the
Carolwood Pacific
.  Why?  He lived on
Carolwood Drive
. 
FastPass:
  No.  The
Disneyland Railroad
is not part of the
FastPass
system.  Because trains are capacious and run every five to twenty minutes, for the most part you won’t have a problem boarding the next train that arrives at your station.  However, trying to board trains at the
New Orleans Square Train Station
immediately following a summer
Fantasmic!
performance is a mob scene.  You might have to wait for several trains to be filled before you can board one.  Ditto trying to board at the
Toontown Station
or the
Tomorrowland Station
near the end of the night during the summer or holidays; by the time trains reach these last stations, they’re so crammed with exiting Guests that it might be several trains before you can board. 
Kid’s Eye View:
  All aboard the
Disneyland Railroad
!  It’s really fun because each station has its own theme.  You have to wait a long time sometimes, and there’s a long line at night.  It’s a ride itself, and it gets you places.  It takes you through part of
Jungle Cruise
,
Splash Mountain
, the
Grand Canyon
, and back in time to dinosaurs.  It’s so cool! 
Teen’s Eye View:
  The railroad is very cute and would be exciting for young boys and girls with the mechanical animals and different things you see as you go along.  It’s very calm and peaceful, and I like to ride it when I’m tired.

Great Moments
with Mr. Lincoln (Opera House)

[
FastView:
  Lincoln
was one of
Walt
’s heroes, and the
Audio-Animatronic Lincoln
figure at the
Opera House
is a new-generation version of
Disney
’s pioneering 1960’s
AA Lincoln
.  An uneven show, but an amazing achievement and a vibrant connection to American history.
]

As discussed in the section on
Disneyland:  The First 50 Magical Years
, the
Disneyland
Opera House
was the first park building erected, and served as the park’s lumber mill through 1961.  It wasn’t until 1965 that
Mr. Lincoln
moved into the
Opera House
’s lovely theater.

A superlative technical achievement by the
Imagineers
, the
Audio-Animatronic
Mr. Lincoln
had been crafted for and presented at the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair, garnering rave reviews.  Although the team had had a very short time in which to create
Lincoln
, and there were plenty of technical challenges and hiccups before the figure was finally unveiled, the final results were incredible, groundbreaking for that time.

The robotic
Lincoln
didn’t look robotic at all.  His face had been carefully crafted by
Disneyland
sculptor
Blaine Gibson
from an actual Lincoln life-mask and was consequently exceptionally life-like. Even more impressive:
Lincoln
’s lips moved in synch with his speeches; he gestured naturally; his facial expressions changed in concert with his words; and he could even stand up.  His resonant tones were provided by voice actor
Royal Dano
.

Bringing the
Mr. Lincoln
attraction home to
Disneyland
after the World’s Fair concluded made good sense, just as
Imagineers
had brought home
beyond-the-berm
World’s Fair attractions like
“it’s a small world”
and the
Primeval World Diorama
, and technology like the efficient
Omnimovers
that would be put to use in the
Haunted Mansion
(1969 – ongoing) and
Adventures Thru Inner Space
(1967 – 1985). 
Walt
and his team never discarded a great attraction or a great idea.

Walt
and visionary
Imagineers
like
Wathel Rogers
and
Roger Broggie
were moving forces behind the development of
Audio-Animatronic
technology. 
AA
technology synchs recorded human movements and speech or song with hydraulic and pneumatic movements in mechanical figures.

What began with a
simple little
Dancing Man
figure crafted by legendary
Imagineer
Ken Anderson
based on
Buddy Ebsen
’s dancing, eventually evolved into more complex attractions such as the flowers, birds, and masks of the
Enchanted Tiki Room
, and blossomed over the years to a sophisticated re-creation of one of
Walt
’s heroes, U.S. president Abraham Lincoln.

Disneyland
Guests enjoyed
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln
; many believed that
Lincoln
was being portrayed by an actor, not a machine.  They couldn’t conceive that a robotic creature could look and sound so life-like and move in such a natural way. 
Mr. Lincoln
ran from 1965 to 1973, when the show was halted for a couple of years so that the
Opera House
theater could show the
Walt Disney Story
.

In 1975,
the attractions merged under the
Opera House
roof, and Guests could enjoy both the
Walt Disney Story
and
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln
.  Over the years, the
Mr. Lincoln
AA
figures were enhanced, becoming even more fluid and realistic as the technology improved.

Never content to rest on their laurels,
Imagineers
continued to plus the
AA
technology, not only for
Disneyland
’s
Mr. Lincoln
, but on a much bigger canvas, for the American Presidents inhabiting
President’s Hall
in
Liberty Square
,
Walt Disney World
, and for
Disney Theme Park Attractions
around the world. 
AA
movements, which could be slow and a bit choppy in the early days, became subtler, cleaner, faster and more natural as the
Imagineers
crafted better systems and engineered features that mimicked human muscle functions like compliance.

In 2005,
Disneyland
’s
Mr. Lincoln
was temporarily evicted to welcome the excellent tribute film
Disneyland:  The First 50 Magical Years
, hosted by former Cast Member
Steve Martin
and endearingly cranky
Donald Duck
.  The film was terrific, and a fitting part of
Disneyland
’s 50-year anniversary celebration, but as always, fans missed
Lincoln
.

The
Opera House
closed in 2009 so that the space could be refurbished.  It was announced that a newer, even more astounding
Mr. Lincoln
would once again dazzle and inspire Guests when
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln
reopened in autumn 2009.  (
Disneyland:  The First 50 Magical Years
wasn’t scrapped, however; it now loops in the elegant
Opera House
lobby where Guests view
Disneyland
maps, models and memorabilia while they wait to enter the theater.  Of special note:  when Guests enter the
Opera House
, the first artifact they see is the Griffith Park bench on which
Walt
was sitting when he was pondered the possibility of a park fun for adults as well as children.)

The timetable for the re-launch of
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln
was kept vague on the signs outside the
Opera House
, perhaps because from their first incarnation, the
AA Lincoln
figures have always been rather problematic and unpredictable.

The original unveiling at the 1964
-1965 World’s Fair had to be rescheduled;
Walt
rarely delayed launches, but he refused to show the press or public a
Lincoln
that wasn’t ready.  In later years, an early version of the
Disneyland
Lincoln
figure famously leaned forward during a performance but continued speaking, addressing the floor rather than the audience.  School kids in attendance during this glitchy show wrote “get well” letters to
Lincoln
,
hoping that he felt better and that his back problem had abated!

Whatever the reason
for the 2009 delay, the new
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln
didn’t reopen in the vaguely promised “fall,” but rather on December 18, 2009.  My niece and I were able to visit it almost immediately, on December 28, 2009.  I’d never seen the original
Disneyland
Lincoln
shows, but my research predisposed me to expect amazing things.

The large lobby immediately outside the
theater doors now exhibits portraits of the late President that masterfully capture his
gravitas
and the lonely weight of the office he held during a crucial period in U.S. history.  The theater lobby lighting is muted, almost somber.  Against the west wall a glass case exhibits maquettes that representing various elements of the American spirit, the spirit of adventure, of independence, and so forth.  On the east wall, a pre-show plays on a large screen.

The
dominant and most impressive exhibit in this space is a stunningly detailed, hand-carved stone replica of the United States Capitol building crafted by
George Lloyd Belleview
.  It draws Guests immediately; people orbit it slowly, quietly appreciating the fine craftsmanship and high level of detail.  One almost feels that peering through the windows will reveal miniature legislators in session.