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Alien Encounter Entrance

After Alien Encounter opened at Walt Disney World, I began a design for Disneyland. Wishful thinking...

Flying Carpet Ride Vehicle

Disney's Route 66

Back in January 2007, ThemedAttractions.com's (now defunct) Armchair Imagineering contest (the goal was to design a Disney presence in Las Vegas Nevada--NO GAMBLING!) inspired me to design this:

Disney’s Route 66

The site I chose contains quite a few smaller hotels and businesses just north of The Venetian and just south of Circus Circus.

I have no idea if this land can be purchased, but who cares right? This is just for fun. So, in my crazy world, I have set off enough TNT to blow the area to smithereens!

After the dust has settled, I’m proposing to build Disney’s Route 66, an expansive mixed-media shopping/attraction/resort hotel destination.

Larger version here

I like this idea for a Downtown Disney-type area. And I think Walt would have liked it. Like Main Street and Frontierland, it combines a themed-area for families to play together, study a time in American history, and relish in nostalgia. It’s Fantasyland-type area is Radiator Springs from the movie Cars. Cars also provides the central weenie for the area—Radiator Cap.

Like a castle or geosphere or volcano, Radiator Cap can be seen from almost anywhere along Route 66. It’s situated just at the entrance to Radiator Springs. I colored the different zones to make this a little easier.

Larger version here

The area known as Route 66 runs the length of the property. Guests will find restaurants, shops, and attractions along a road that is themed to the glory days of Route 66. As guests walk from one end to the other, they will encounter recreations of some of the most iconic structures you would encounter if you were to drive Route 66 from LA to Chicago.

The main entry for pedestrians on Las Vegas Boulevard is a drive-in movie theater. This instant sense of nostalgia (since there aren’t all that many left) sets the perfect mood for what’s to come.

Larger version here

The road twists and turns just enough to keep guests wondering what’s around the next corner. The first main attraction is Soarin’ Over Route 66. Guests will fly the entire route—at times the journey will offer a slow-moving bird’s eye view of the architecture they see as they explore the area and sometimes the film will be speeded up as they travel to the next location.

After more shops and restaurants, guests come upon Radiator Cap, which houses the Cars Raceway. This attraction (think Test Track with different theming) will pit you against fellow drivers as you race through desert canyons.

Towards the eastern end is the last main attraction, the Route 66 Museum.

Radiator Springs doesn’t need much explanation, I’m guessing. It’s a recreation of the town from the movie. Guests can ride an Autopia-like attraction I’m calling Sarge’s SUV Boot Camp, which runs along the perimeter of the property towards Las Vegas Boulevard. Those walking along The Strip can stop and watch (hopefully, this will act as a draw to bring them in).

In the south-east corner, I’ve left lots of room for expansion. After a year or two of operation, Disney can look at the numbers and decide whether they need more attractions, more shopping, more hotels, or whatever. There’s also a parking structure in the far corner.

The north end of the property contains the resort hotels. The Santa Monica Hotel is an art-deco inspired ‘beach-front’ resort. The Hotel El Rancho is inspired by the hotel of the same name in Gallup, New Mexico.

The moderately-priced hotel, Lakeview Courts, is a kitschy family-friendly area inspired by the hotel of the same name in Oklahoma. Finally, the Will Rogers Hotel is placed near the end of Route 66 (not historically accurate—but it fits better with the Chicago skyline near the eastern edge).
I also left some room for a future water park. Honestly, I just ran out of time to design it, but there’s a spot for it anyway.

The Lesson of the Moth

I've always loved the poem "The Lesson of the Moth" by Don Marquis. A very determined moth is trying to "fry himself on the wires" of an electric light bulb since "it is better to be happy/ for a moment and be burned up with beauty/ than to live a long time/ and be bored all the while." Archie, our narrator and fellow bug, listens intently before the moth "immolate[s] himself/ on a patent cigar lighter."

If I had the ability to make a short film, this would be my project of choice. I've only gotten as far as designing the look for Archie on paper and sculpting the moth out of clay.

the lesson of the moth

i was talking to a moth
the other evening
he was trying to break into
an electric light bulb
and fry himself on the wires












why do you fellows
pull this stunt i asked him
because it is the conventional
thing for moths or why
if that had been an uncovered
candle instead of an electric
light bulb you would
now be a small unsightly cinder
have you no sense












plenty of it he answered
but at times we get tired
of using it
we get bored with the routine
and crave beauty
and excitement
fire is beautiful
and we know that if we get
too close it will kill us
but what does that matter
it is better to be happy
for a moment
and be burned up with beauty
than to live a long time
and be bored all the while
so we wad all our life up
into one little roll
and then we shoot the roll
that is what life is for
it is better to be a part of beauty
for one instant and then cease to
exist than to exist forever
and never be a part of beauty
our attitude toward life
is come easy go easy
we are like human beings
used to be before they became
too civilized to enjoy themselves












and before i could argue him
out of his philosophy
he went and immolated himself
on a patent cigar lighter
i do not agree with him
myself i would rather have
half the happiness and twice
the longevity

but at the same time i wish
there was something i wanted
as badly as he wanted to fry himself

archy









Read more about Don Marquis here