Text: Acts of the Apostles 2:1-13 Did you know that Pentecost is a feast celebrated by Jews and Christians alike? Sure the meaning is a little different for each. The date that it is celebrated differs by group. The following are the dates in 2021: Jewish—May 17, Catholic—May 23, and Orthodox—June 20 (Note: Protestants probably celebrate it on the date that other Christians celebrate it on in their area, so May 23rd for the western world). One of the best-known Disney rides is “it's a small world.” Walt Disney and his Imagineers designed the boat ride for the 1964-65 World Fair in New York. It is billed as “the happiest cruise that ever sailed,” and it focuses on the children of the world. The simple, repetitive song (of the same name) gets lodged deeply into guests’ ears (some like it, others don’t). In this Bible World ride, the focus is on the Feast of Pentecost (the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Disciples 50 days after Easter Sunday). In Acts 2, disciples from many different regions are mentioned as being able to understand each other in their own native language. The map below shows where they traveled from to get to Jerusalem (the text in red shows the approximate origin). The whimsical Mary Blair-style facade, dolls, and set pieces of “it's a small world” are used again in this ride. The song, too, works in this ride (except in the opening scene). The first scene is a rather quiet set where the diverse group of disciples is seen praying in the Upper Room. Then flames of fire descend on the Disciples. They begin to speak in their own languages with amazement shown in the dolls faces as if they can understand each other. A set of doors open into the main part of the ride. The main boat scenes show the dolls from Pentecost in their native homelands joyfully singing, dancing, and playing games. There are typically homes or small churches displayed in the scenes representing the early places of worship for the Christians. As seen by the map, the early Christian world didn’t extend to all lands, but the regions represented include many distinct cultures. Rome is the last scene in the ride as sort of a foreshadowing of the future locus of Christendom.
The “it’s a small world” ride might be the one WDW ride that would need the least amount of change for Bible World, because it’s a theme that became reality at Pentecost. All else equal, it would probably fit a little better in Apostolic Age Land, although it follows so closely after Jesus’ earthly life that it is not too much of a stretch to put it in Gospel-Land.
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Texts: Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20-21, Acts of the Apostle 1
The Feast of the Ascension occurs 40 days after Easter. For Catholics in the U.S., there are actually two different dates for the feast (based on where in the country one lives). Most areas celebrate it on a Sunday (so actually 6 weeks after Easter...May 16th in 2021), although there are a few regions that celebrate it on a Thursday (like most of the rest of the world...May 13th in 2021). Although the name of this Gospel Land ride is based-off of Jesus’ ascension (and loosely based-off of the current ride’s title of Peter Pan’s Flight), much of the ride focuses on Jesus’ resurrection appearances starting with Easter Sunday. A suspended dark ride is a good ride system for these stories, because it helps the guests to feel as if they are being lifted-up with Jesus in the final scene. Unfortunately the ride is too short to show all of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances, so the following key appearances will be shown:
Instead of riding ships (as in the current ride), guests ride on clouds. For the queue, guests enter into the empty tomb (with a stone rolled away to one side). The folded-up burial clothes are seen in the queue. As you can see, this is an important ride for the telling of the Gospels (the Resurrection appearances conclude each of the four Gospels). Like Peter Pan’s Flight, it will be loved by guests. There is one other ride in Gospel Land that comes after the Ascension, and that ride will be the next one to be described. The top two tiers of theme parks are the nationally-known parks that bring in people from more than just a regional area. Obviously this can be seen with Disney and Universal parks (Tier 1; see my Disney vs. Universal post) but it is also the case to a lesser case with Busch Gardens and Sea World (Tier 2). Other theme parks (Tier 3 and beyond) might only be an out-of-state destination for the biggest of theme park fans. This is why they are called regional theme parks. Regional parks are often owned by a larger organization. Six Flags has many U.S. parks (including water parks) plus one in Canada, one in Mexico, and others they are hoping to open throughout the world. Cedar Fair has many amusement parks, including the roller coaster-heavy Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH. I have been to a couple of special Tier 3 theme parks—Dollywood (in 2021) and Silver Dollar City (most recently in 2019). Both of these parks are owned by Herschend Family Entertainment, a company which also owns two other theme parks plus some other entertainment venues. Amusement park enthusiasts can tell that the two parks that I have been to are sister parks. Pigeon Forge, TN and Branson, MO are both tourist cities known for entertainment. The parks consist of unique roller coasters, crafts people (like blacksmiths), live music (especially Christian), good guest service, and better-than-your-typical amusement park food. They both have special-run festivals (which helps to get locals into the parks multiple times per year). I experienced the Food & Flower Festival at Dollywood and the Bluegrass Festival at Silver Dollar City. If I had to choose a favorite between these two, I would give the nod to Silver Dollar City. I learned more about Dolly Parton in the museum at Dollywood, but I prefer the general theme of Silver Dollar City. I have not ridden the Mystic Rivers Fall raft ride at Silver Dollar City, but that looks really neat (with a special lift and large drop). At Silver Dollar City, the Time Traveler (extreme spinning) and Powder Keg (launch) coasters are quite memorable. They have counterparts, though, at Dollywood in the Mystery Mine (part dark ride) and Lightning Rod (more details below) coasters. Both have similar indoor enclosed power coasters (Fire in the Hole at SDC and Blazing Fury at DW). Whereas SDC has a tour of a real mine, DW has the Dollywood Express railroad that takes guests up the mountain in a historic locomotive. Now for a review of the Lightning Rod In the mini-land of Jukebox Junction (which also has a theater and an antique cars ride) near the entrance to Dollywood is the coaster Lightning Rod. I saved my first ride for the afternoon after getting through most of the other rides I wanted to do. The posted wait time was 60 minutes, but fortunately the actual wait time was about 15. The queue goes through a 50’s style car repair shop. The coaster looks wooden (and was prior to this year) but, in fact, it is steel. It’s deceiving to the rider even though he can see the launch from outside the ride and even in the queue. The train leaves the loading station, crosses a bridge, and prepare for a lift hill. But it is actually a launch up an actual hill. Through the twists and turns, it’s hard to get a feel for what is coming next. It also feels that the train is picking up speed (maxing out at 73 mph) as it makes it’s return to the station. A second ride later in the day was equally thrilling! Below is the link to my final project for Sorcerer’s Apprentice Season 7. I designed an aquarium attraction for Animal Kingdom. Although I did not place in the top four (so somewhere between 5th and 8th), it was a good, learning experience.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t4fcpQR0yVdQfhnLCaRAdVh5ShtaZumuT3JZlqD8m-Q/edit |
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