MAN O MAN. Haven’t written in forever. Who knew this was going to happen? We all did, lez be honest. Of course since I sit at a computer at work half the day you’d think that I’d be ramping these out like none other…there’s just SO much that happens and goes on I don’t even know what to write but I was able to finally combine these 2 things together.
I went on 2 backstage tours so far since I’ve been down here so I thought I’d share what I learned – of course I was the geek who brought my little notepad out and started writing fun facts down…
So we got to have VIP seating to Indiana Jones as well as go backstage to learn their tricks of the trade. From what I heard, we gave them one of our old ellipticals so they repaid us back by giving us a backstage tour. Weird, but we’ll take it! So I thought the most interesting part is that the actors in Indiana Jones are actually actors! In real life! (Or does everyone else already know this..?..) The director that brought us around told us that starts actually get cast for movies and are real stunt devils like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, etc. He said this is their steady job and then they are all constantly applying for new jobs or movies and then when they get casted they’ll go off and do that and then come back to Indiana Jones when they’re done. They rotate throughout the days so some are doing 2-3 shows a day for a few days and then will have off since it’s a lot of work and stress on the body per show.
Another interesting fact is that one time the big boulder got rolled out from the track in front and onto stage but the crew was able to stop it before it hit the audience or hurt anyone. Yikers! And speaking of which, ironically, my roommate just found this HILARIOUS YouTube video of Indiana Jones. Please, please watch it. And WHY did I not see this before the Halloween parties?!?!
Lastly, the very first stunt Indiana Jones does when he steps over the certain patch of black-ness he triggers himself. As he is approaching the spike, he steps over a patch, which then triggers the spike to come up. Simultaneously, when the spikes come up, the sound crew will trigger the noise as well. (Of course accidents happen- but no worries, of course they’re made out of rubber!)
We also got to go back and touch the planes and feel the propellers and such. It was pretty cool to see behind the scenes! Not as much different though since the whole show you kind of see backstage when they are switching the scenes behind you. We did see them put the first scene back together which was cool since you saw the pieces and how they fit together. Definitely wouldn’t have expected where they fit since you can hardly tell!
Secondly, I also got to go on a backstage tour of Epcot’s Spaceship Earth. This one was way more intriguing to me because obviously who goes on an all dark ride with the lights on and gets an explanation of it?! (Actually… I did get to try magic band testing out for the photo pass so I got to ride Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain with the lights on on my birthday..so that was SAWEEET. I went to try to do it for Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n Roll but space was out! GAH ..Mad about that still because out of all places, that’d be the place to do it).
So fun facts about the ride and the Epcot ball: There are 11,324 triangles that make it up (kewl, right?). And only 2 technicians are able to clean the ball! Crazy, right? Apparently they go through regular maintenance and it’s too dangerous to have people up on top of the ball anymore (Mickey used to magically appear in pictures there), but you have to have very specific qualifications for it and literally only 2 technicians do. Also, the marks on the ball are indeed lightning strikes! Apparently the ball has been hit multiple times by lightning and even the cast member giving us the tour mentioned that he had seen it taken place before. Wowza.
The face recognition that they use to take your picture while on the ride is the same as what the government uses!! (Meaning it should be crystal clear…right…??..).
More interesting facts he talked about throughout the ride such as:
- The painter (don’t know who it was supposed to be) that is lying down on the bed painting a portrait on the ceiling was painting with his right hand and they found out later he was actually left handed. He also wouldn’t be lying down because that would be too long of a time to be lying down for, so they skewed that scene up.
And do these faces look familiar ??? They should—they’re the father and daughter from Carosuel of Progress !!!! They do tend to reuse faces throughout the different rides in the parks. I believe another example of my last tour last year they mentioned that the last guy on the totem pole in the Jungle Cruise is also the groundskeeper and dog from the Haunted Mansion! Neat-O gang.
Another scene showed the dimensions of the characters and actually how tall they were to scale! (Tour guide was approximately my height—5’7”).
And last tid-bit I wrote down about the ride was that behind this scene there is a “porch” that goes out to be able to see the “moon” and the “stars”. And apparently astronomers are very precise on how the sky looks and what exact shapes they should be in. An astronomer during the beginning of creating it was very particular in noticing that the moon wasn’t shaped exactly how it should be so that they had to take more paint to re-make it to his liking.
And ever wonder what is in front of you when you are traveling at the very top of the “earth” ?? A bunch of crap! It's really that. Boxes and such.. kind of sad!
In the meantime, I'm waiting to hear back from some jobs so I can possibly stay here longer than January. So we will see what's in store!!
And yes... it's still beach weather here .. ;)
