Disney employees accused of sexual assault
Feb. 27, 2006. 09:32 PM

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Authorities were investigating allegations by a Disney employee that she was raped by four French national employed at the amusement park, authorities said.

No charges have been filed against the four men because they were co-operating with authorities and are not considered a flight risk, said Jim Solomons, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

The men were employed by the park under it's (sic) International Program, which routinely brings foreign nationals to work at Disney World, many as cultural representatives at the Epcot theme park.

This just in from BoingBoing -- changes to Disneyland's Haunted Mansion?

Detailed rumors of update to Disneyland's Haunted Mansion
Woobot has an Imagineer friend who's passed him detailed (but unconfirmed) rumors of an upcoming renovation of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion:

The biggest changes will be coming to the attic scene, as that's where the new plotline will be most evident. As it is now, the attic scene is simply a cluttered and dusty place with a ghost inexplicably dressed like a bride with that spooky beating heart. But when the additions are all installed, the bride will become a much more sinister character who has apparently been killing off all of her previous husbands. As the doombuggies pass through the attic, riders will see portraits of several dashing young gentlemen, with each portrait piled next to "the loot" that the man brought in to the marriage. Those portraits will look familiar as they'll be the same faces that were just beginning to appear in ghost form back in the seance circle. But a new special effect will allow the heads of these gentleman to suddenly disappear from the portrait, as if they had been decapitated in a grisly murder. And when riders arrive at the exit of the attic scene, the bride will still be there, this time in a new location and clutching a bouquet of wedding flowers that magically turns into a blood stained axe as each vehicle passes by.

Fooling around with the digital camera -- decided to take some stereoscopic pictures of my paper models. You need red/blue glasses to see 'em in 3D. Click on the images for a larger version. (You can download and build these models yourself here.)





I built the Nautilus submarine larger than it was intended -- printed the 8.5 x 11 sheets out at 11 x 17. The finished model is about 2.5 feet long, and surprisingly sturdy. Gave it to a friend who is a fellow 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea fan.

(I asked Brendan Walker, former aeronautical engineer who created the Walker Thrill Index and a series of thrill ride designs based on air disasters to write this guest blog entry. -- DAN)

AeroDream

Montreal's Mirabel International Airport is to be transformed into AeroDream (Rêveport in French), a giant amusement park on the themes of water and outer-space.

AeroDream will meet “the travel and leisure needs of our Québec friends and visitors", said Gilles Assouline, President of the the I-Parks / Oger international development consortium. Visitors will be invited to relax and escape to strange new worlds of the imagination, on amazing voyages of adventure through virtual realms, immersed in the wonders of high-technology. The park will include:

·Four or five geodesic domes equipped with spherical screens will send visitors into mysterious worlds and cruising over distant planets
·A giant aquarium that will literally plunge visitors into fantastic undersea worlds, as they choose their own path through a tunnel made of non-deforming acrylic
·An indoor beach, creating a tropical atmosphere and an invitation to a siesta all year long
·A fitness centre, spa and sauna…

Mirabel was originally billed as “Airport of the Future” when it was opened amid great fanfare in 1975. It cost $500 million at the time (which included compulsory purchase of dozens of farms). It was recently closed due to poor business performance.

James Cherry, President of the Canadian Airport Authority said the agency would “have nothing to do with managing the amusement park" – which is a pity. Perhaps Mirabel is well placed to become into the world’s first international theme park of Air Crash Investigation – AeroDisaster – where visitors could fly directly into the airport, and flight arrivals could be seamlessly transformed into theatrical thrill rides.

Re-Imagineering
A forum for Pixar and Disney professionals passionate about the Disney Theme Parks to catalog past Imagineering missteps and offer up tenable practical solutions in hopes that a new wave of creative management at Imagineering can once again bring back the wonder and magic that's been missing from the parks for decades. The opinions expressed at Re-Imagineering are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily represent the opinions of The Walt Disney Company.

Found on BoingBoing

MICRO-DISNEY!!!



(Thanks to Tiki-bot!)