Movie buffs are an odd lot. More often they'd rather go to a movie about a theme park than go to a theme park itself. Even on a day filled with sunshine.
So the folks at Disney have come up with a way to get film freaks out of the dark hole of the theater and into the dark hole of the park ride by coming up with a movie theme park: The Disney-MGM Studios park in Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla.Even dyed-in-the-wool movie maniacs will be happy to skip a matinee or two to see all the movie-related rides, tours, shows, exhibits and restaurants available here. And, cleverly, the Disney folks have included some actual short movies interspersed among the fare - made-exclusively-for-this-park films starring everyone from Bette Midler to Robin Williams to Mel Gibson to R2D2 and C3PO. So even those who can't bear more than a few hours without a flick fix will feel sated.
For the uninitiated, Disney World is a 28,000-acre resort complex that has, until this spring, had two major theme parks - Epcot Center and The Magic Kingdom, the latter being a sort of Disneyland-South - as well as hotels, restaurants, boat rides and even a 10-plex movie theater outside the parks. (It all rests in Lake Buena Vista, an incorporated Disney city in Florida near Orlando.)
But with the May 1 opening of Disney-MGM Studios, and the more recent opening of Typhoon Lagoon, a new water-recreation park, Disney World is well on its way to becoming a vacation spot where you could spend several cloistered weeks and still not take it all in.
That may at first glance seem a bit overwhelming, but it's really a fascinating series of adventures that are at once quite joyful and exhausting. A bus driver explained as we left Epcot Center that we may think EPCOT stands for "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow," but it really means "Every Person Comes Out Tired."
It's a very nice tired, however.
My wife Joyce and I _ along with some 7,000 other news media representatives and their guests _ were hosted by Disney for a five-day, six-night stay over the end of April and beginning of May as the Disney-MGM Studios park had its gala _ and when they say gala, they mean gala! _ opening.
It was our first trip to Disney World, and at times it seemed more like Disney Universe.
We were lodged at the Contemporary Hotel, which is equipped with tracks that go right through the lobby for an overhead monorail that travels to other hotels, as well as Epcot and the Magic Kingdom. And there were frequent buses and trams to carry us to other destinations.
During our stay special star-shaped press badges opened the Magic Kingdom and Epcot parks to us. We spent part of the first day at Epcot and a couple of hours on the last day at the Magic Kingdom. I wanted to see "Captain EO," the 3-D Michael Jackson film, and Joyce wanted a ride on the Space Mountain rollercoaster.
That should tell you which of us is the movie freak in our family.
We also had a preview glimpse of Pleasure Island, a nightclub and restaurant complex, and Typhoon Lagoon, with its rides and exhibits built around an artificially created beach, complete with sand, salt-water ocean, waves and surfers. It's the world's largest water thrill park, covering some 56 acres, with a 2 1/2-acre wave pool at the base of a 95-foot mountain, a snorkeling pool with tropical fish and nine water slides.
But the bulk of our time was spent at the Disney-MGM Studios theme park, where we sampled the rides and tours before they were opened to the public, and before long lines became the fashion.
It was a novel experience, of course, but we tasted the long lines by visiting the other parks and during the two days we stayed after Disney-MGM Studios opened.
The first thing you see upon entering the Disney-MGM park is Hollywood Blvd., complete with oddball Hollywood "types," actors who portray a cabbie asking passersby if they've seen his lost cab; the matronly proprieter of "Mom's" diner, who admonishes a patron to eat everything on his plate; a Keystone Kop who tells the walking traffic to hurry along; etc.
In your meanderings you'll bump into the various rides and tours.
The Great Movie Ride: A 20-minute tram ride through a myriad of Animatronics scenes from "The Wizard of Oz," "Mary Poppins," "Aliens," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Casablanca" and many other films, and the tram is kidnapped by either a '30s gangster or a bank-robbing cowpoke. (Outside this ride is a replica Grauman's Chinese Theater, where cement hand prints include Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Roger Rabbit.)
The Backlot Tour: This two-hour extravaganza includes a tram ride through the studio's costume and prop departments, backlot street sets _ all in operation for productions filmed right here _ and Catastrophe Canyon, where an artificial rainfall, an earthquake, exploding oil derricks and a flood seem like the real thing. Then the tour goes to the Water Effects Tank that shows how miniature battleships are made to look real, a Special Effects Workshop show where two kids will ride a huge flying bee, and three working soundstages where shows are being filmed. It all winds up with a two-minute Bette Midler stunt-comedy and a how-it-was-done tour of the sets. (The short movies in this tour are star-studded and include the unexpected teaming of Mel Gibson and Pee-wee Herman, as well as many others, all explaining various aspects of how movies are made.)
The Animation Center: This 25-minute tour is narrated by another unlikely duo, Walter Cronkite and Robin Williams, Williams being animated about half the time. It's hilarious as well as informative, explaining the different phases of animation and winding up with a look at the artists at work (currently on a new 7-minute short, "Rollercoaster Rabbit," starring Roger, of course).
The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular: An outdoor theater featuring a live 30-minute show with hair-raising stunts patterned after the three "Indiana Jones" features, including the fist fight under a moving airplane from "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
The Monster Sound Show: A short horror-comedy film with Chevy Chase and Martin Short is shown, then guests from the audience provide the sound effects for a second showing.
Superstar Television: Some 30 people are picked from the audience to play characters and interact with the videotaped stars of "Gilligan's Island," "General Hospital," "Golden Girls" _ and even Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show."
Restaurants: The '50s Prime Time Cafe, where TV monitors show classic black-and-white programs like "I Love Lucy," "Our Miss Brooks" and "The Honeymooners," and the Brown Derby, a replica of the famed Hollywood eatery, are the only waiter-served restaurants in the park. But plenty of snack parlors are around, such as Min and Bill's Dockside Diner and Dinosaur Gertie's ice cream parlor.
In January the most popular ride at Disneyland, Star Tours, will also open in Disney World's Disney-MGM Studios.
During our stay it rained quite heavily, but only in short spurts and it remained warm. The Disney folks were ready, however, providing some 10,000 umbrellas and uncountable ponchos, all of which seemed to appear out of nowhere.
We also rubbed shoulders with a lot of stars, from Bette Midler to Kevin Costner, from Audrey Hepburn to Lauren Bacall, from George Burns to Bob Hope. But remember, we were there for the grand opening. As a rule don't expect too much more than a wave from a sweaty performer in a Mickey Mouse suit.
And, as with everything Disneyish, the parks are incredibly clean.
Here's a rundown of things to keep in mind if you decide make the trek to Disney World:
Prices: The three-day ticket has been eliminated, in the hope that vacationers will stay longer with a four-day incentive. A one-day, one-park pass is $29 for adults, $23 for children. Four-day passes for all parks are $97 and $77. Five-day pass for all parks, $112 and $90. Annual passes are also available. (For more information phone 407-824-4321, or write to Guest Letters, Walt Disney World, P.O. Box 10,040, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0040.)
Best Days, Times: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, avoiding the 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. rush hours (the biggest crowds arrive on the weekend and spill over to Monday and Tuesday). Disney officials suggest you allow six to seven hours to get through Disney-MGM Studios. The longest wait in line is estimated at 55 minutes, but on opening day, with an unusually large crowd, it was about 50 minutes.
Interesting Statistics: When the new hotels open their 4,300 rooms it will increase Disney World hotel capacity by more than 50 percent.
Since 1984 Disney's profits have more than quintupled, to $522 million in 1988; its revenue has risen 136 percent, to $3.44 billion.
Tokyo Disneyland, which opened in 1983, sees 10 million guests a year. In 1992 Euro Disneyland opens 18 miles east of Paris.
Rivals: Sea World and Boardwalk and Baseball in Orlando, Busch Gardens in Tampa, Cypres Gardens in Winter Haven and Cape Canaveral. In May of 1990, Universal will open its Orlando studio tour, some 12 miles from Disney World (see story on this page).