Consider Yourself Rezzed

Well, ladies and gentlemen, something finally worked out in my favor this weekend. Sure, it cost me a couple hours worth of work to do it, but it was worth it in the end... I went to ElecTRONica! With a camera! And took pictures! So, in honor of the experience, the Song of the Day is, one more time (ba-dum ching!), Daft Punk:



Well, I was originally scheduled to work until pretty late on Friday, but I definitely kept feeling the drive to at least stop by and see what was going on in California Adventure sometime this past weekend. I ended up calling the Scheduling Office to find out whether or not I could switch my shift to something earlier in the day.

Disneyland's got a pretty solid scheduling department; if you have a day off and want to pick up a shift, or something happens and you want to try to rearrange a date, you can call your department's scheduling office and they'll try to help you out. If you have to call in sick or take a personal day you're not responsible for finding a cover since they take care of all of that. It's a pretty convenient system, one I wish more businesses would employ... Anyway, so all I had to do was call the day before and ask if they had an earlier shift that I could take instead of my late one. BOOM, I got to leave at 7:30. Before I knew it I was able to take this picture...


Welcome to ElecTRONica...

That's right, folks. It's the entrance to ElecTRONica, and they put on a pretty fantastic show inside. For one, there's tons of black-lighting and they use really strong blue lights to give everything a glow of its own...


We've all been rezzed!

Now, during the day the ElecTRONica area functions as the Hollywood Backlot, the area where the Disney Animation Studio attraction and Muppets 3D Theatre are, along with some other stuff. So in order to fully "take over" the area, they cast giant projections over the walls of the buildings. They're fully animated, and you can see things like lightcycles driving past you, complete with surround sound.


We don't like zombies on our lawn, but we LOVE lightcycles on our walls.


Everything in there's so gorgeous. SO GORGEOUS.

What still really gets me is how much the place looks like the concept art that they put together. I think it's amazing how one person's drawing of a place can become a full, life-sized reality in just a few years. I mean, look at the concept here:



And then look at this:



I mean, seriously. That's one giant freakin' Recognizer. And no, it doesn't move or suck people up or anything, but there's still something completely fantastic about seeing a small piece of your reality tweaked into the sci-fi dimension. After all, how often do you get to walk around and see people in glowing bodysuits dancing to techno music?


This is a picture of the guy in the costume in the middle, not the pool of sweat on the back of the guy on the left.


Blurriness is just a photo's way of describing excitement.


Even so, I could have used less blurriness here...

Even the concessions stands are all TRON'ed out. Though I couldn't get a good picture of one, they serve "Glowtinis" that have little plastic cubes in them which light up blue, making the whole drink glow...it's pretty awesome. The seating is all futuristic and lit too to keep with the design. After all, it wouldn't really make a whole lot of sense to have glowing drinks and costumes with normal chairs, would it?


So. Much. Light.


So. Much. More. Light.

One of the coolest parts of the area is Flynn's, the retro arcade I talked about a couple posts ago. There are tons of games there, and they all cost a quarter a piece to play.


None of that "Insert $1.00" crap in this arcade!


They created a "Space Paranoids" cabinet for San Diego Comic Con in 2008. 8 were created, and apparently one of them made its way to Disney...


...as did an authentic TRON cabinet! There are tons of other games there too...


...but I spent my time playing Asteroids.


:)

So, now one person's idea for a movie back in the 80s transformed into this huge entity that I can walk through and hang out with my friends in. I mean, I guess that's basically what the whole of Disneyland was at one point in time, an idea in one person's head that slowly developed into a massive powerhouse of creativity. Now thousands of people show up every day to get immersed in what used to be one man's dream. Not only that, but Disneyland is the product of the ideas, dedication, and hard work of hundreds of thousands of people over the years. So many lives have been changed for the better just as the result of this idea...

A part of me is enamored with the idea that one day some idea that I create could entertain millions of people, become a part of their reality, and in more ways than one. I mean, think about it: back when Star Trek first came out, the idea of flipping open a device and talking with someone wirelessly was nothing but a dream. Now tons of us do it on a daily basis with our cell phones and don't even give it a second thought. How many inside jokes do you have with your friends that involve a book series or a movie? How many little kids play Power Rangers out on the playground with their friends? All of these things originate from a singular idea that came from one person's head, one person with the courage and the determination to bring their dreams into reality.

Pretty amazing when you think about it.

An Apology and Disneyland Events

It's Tuesday, and maybe you're wondering why I'm posting? Well, it seems that I've finally been called out for missing a post. I took a bit of crap from one of my followers for not posting on Sunday, and I've gotta admit, it felt kinda good! I'm glad that I've got a bit of accountability out there, and I'm addressing that concern by posting tonight. And I'm sending out an apology to any one who was looking forward to reading on Sunday night/Monday. So, here we go...

California's been pretty hectic lately, to be honest. Even just talking about the things that are going on in the park takes a lot of time, partly I guess because I haven't been updating as regularly as I should... :\ (that's actually the first time I've EVER used that emoticon). Still, we'll start by flashing back to a couple weekends ago.

So, let's imagine that you decided to come to Disneyland one day, and you happened to be wearing your favorite red shirt. It can be pretty much any shirt you want, other than a St. Louis Cardinals shirt. I'm not really a Cardinals fan. In fact, though I'm primarily a Cubs fan, you could call me an anti-Cardinals fan. I can't even root for the Arizona Cardinals, and that's a completely different sport (football vs. baseball, so you know).


The official position of this blog.

Anyway, so you're walking around with your red shirt on, having a good time, and then you notice that there are TONS of other people walking around with red shirts on. Hooray, you start to think, it must be "Red Shirts Get In Free Day!". Well, you'd be wrong about that assumption. What's going on at the park, you ask? I'll give you a hint:


Uh, I don't think this hint really needs a caption...

For those of you who guessed "Unofficial Disneyland Gay Days," you were spot on the money. And for those of you who suddenly felt a rush of, "Uh, I kinda wish that someone had told me that before I wore my favorite red shirt to the part today," I can guarantee you that there were plenty of people in the park in that same position. But I think that's maybe part of what the event was going for...I mean, after all, wearing a red shirt doesn't mean that you're gay, right? And even if it did, why would it matter? You'd still just be a person in a theme park looking to enjoy the weather and attractions just like everyone else, right?


Ummkay, so some people take the theme park experience a little seriously...

I'm a pretty staunchly liberal ally, so it's nice to see some corporate tolerance going on, particularly out here in California. I think us humble folk from Illinois grossly over-estimate San Francisco's influence on state politics...truthfully, in my experience I've found life is pretty conservative out here. I certainly heard about people issuing complaints about Gay Days taking place at the park and how they felt it was offensive, and I suppose I wasn't surprised. But I'm the type that equivocates the Gay Rights Movement with the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s...I'm sure there were people complaining about all the black kids at their children's schools and whatnot for quite some time.

Regardless, I was pretty surprised to see that Disney even "unofficially" recognized the event as taking place. I've been pretty amazed at how liberal and open the company seems to be in the modern age. I think I was always under the impression that the Disney Company would be hyper-conservative, but they do little things like stock up on tons of extra Rainbow Mickey pins, pins which end up selling out anyway...and even though the company's exterior seems pretty squeaky-conservative, there are lots of organizations and people at Disney that support gay rights and whatnot. Open-mindedness is always refreshing, heh.


The official Disney Pin description: "This colorful, Open Edition Mickey Mouse icon pin features the true colors of the rainbow." Change takes time, but even small changes are good changes.

But Gay Days has come and gone, and things are still continuing to change in Disneyland. Queue up my new favorite part of the entire Disneyland Resort, and it takes place every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night in Disney California Adventure:


Even though I'm quoting my roommate Sloane out of context, it still applies: "It's so sick I could puke."

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to ElecTRONica, the newest addition to the Disney California Adventure Hollywood Backlot (that's a mouthful (that's what she said :D )). The attraction's meant to increase hype for the Disney movie TRON: Legacy, and it sure did for me... I wasn't even that excited about the movie before going to ElecTRONica, but now I'm TOTALLY PUMPED.

Now you're probably wondering where the pictures are...well, I didn't take any. ::collective groan:: I've only seen the area during a cast-exclusive preview event before the attraction officially opened up, and since I wasn't sure if they'd let me take pictures at all, I didn't bring the camera. That's why the above shot is just some concept art of what goes down in ElecTRONica...I would have taken some pictures this weekend, but I worked every day while that section of the park was open, so I couldn't go. Of course, luck would have it that I'm working those same times this weekend too, so I won't be able to go this weekend. I'm hoping I'll be able to trade a shift off or get out a bit early...


Trust me, this isn't too far from how the thing really looks. When Disneyland does something, they do it BIG.

For those of you who don't know, the world of Tron takes is an entire civilization that exists inside a computer. ElecTRONica is supposed to be a representation of an area in Tron: Legacy where the programs cool down and relax. This attraction's got everything from a huge center dance/rave area to a retro-themed arcade based on Flynn's Arcade from the original Tron movie. All the Cast Members working the area are in costumes designed to fit the aesthetic of the new movie, so it's all reflective black-and-white in computer-chip style shapes. Oh, it's SO AWESOME... I can't wait to get pictures to show you.

They play all sorts of techno and house music, including a ton of Daft Punk, the French-phenom duo that put together the soundtrack for Tron: Legacy. I've heard the whole soundtrack for the new movie is Daft Punk and Journey...sounds right up my alley. I think I'll actually buy that music... ::grins::


I love Techno. I love Daft Punk. And now I love Tron. Perfect combination.

So, if I get the chance to go this weekend, pictures and video will soon be coming. It's a fantastic combination of lasers, music, and technology that anyone who gets the chance to check out definitely should. In the meantime, I'm going to peace out so you all don't have to read anymore for the night. See you tomorrow, everyone!