So over the weekend we decided it was high time we made our way out to DCA to check and see just what went on when the lights went down and evening fell in the Hollywood Backlot.
There's no doubt whatsoever that ElecTRONica is doing a very good job bringing people into The Park. In point of fact, they begin selling you on the idea before you even get into The Park. We were given the following pamphlet with our Parking Pass:
 |
| © Disney |
 |
| © Disney |
As can be seen on the pamphlet, the show itself doesn't actually begin until 6pm, so we wandered around The Parks for a while just checking stuff out, before finally making our way over into Sunshine Plaza (although the sun is almost gone, it'll always be Sunshine Plaza to us) to find our camping spot for the beginning of the show.
We could see the Cast Members walking out the back towards the stage so we knew the show was about to begin, and camera in hand, we started snapping.
 |
| The faux arcade effect seemed pretty cool |
 |
| You there. No, you. No, not you; the one standing next to you. No, the other you. |
For the next 15 minutes or so, the dancers and the music took center stage. Close to the end of the set, TRON-boy (no idea who he is, but the name sounded about as good as any) came out to extol the joys of spending the evening in the Backlot. A lot of pointing his white baton at us, calling us all "programs" over and over again, and threatening us with "de-resolution" should we enter "The Grid" too early seemed to be the theme of the evening.
We were a bit surprised, though, when we found out that what we thought was the pre-show, was in fact the pre-show to the pre-show. TRON-boy then told us to come back a bit later (picture The Wizard of Oz) for the final act, and the real opening of the "The Grid". Then, they all left. Well, not all of them. A few of them seemed to be playing with light-brite hula hoops with kids in the audience. Hmmmm... okay. So with little else to do, we hit A Bug's Land like a hurricane and then came back later.
 |
| Guess who was back for more baton pointing and extoling |
 |
| The use of flash made them all sparkly glowy like Jar Jar in Robot Chicken: Star Wars |
 |
| Dance to MORE music until "The Grid" opens? Okay, let's do this! |
But finally, at long last, the dancing was all over, and we could get to the real meat of the ElecTRONica experience; the Hollywood Backlot itself.
As the crowd moved slowly towards the entrance to the Backlot, we were forced to use our crowd-weaving skills (did you know that crowd-weaving is a superpower?) to move past many small children, large men, and zippy-carts to reach the place we most wanted to that evening, the Muppet*Vision 3D theater, which housed the 4-D sneak-peek for Disney's forthcoming film TRON: Legacy. And thanks to said superpowers, we were among the first to see it that night. Unfortunately, due to threats upon our lives should we try and film it for you, all we have is this picture. We'll just have to hope that it suffices.
The sneak-peek itself is well worth the time to go see. It really is in 4-D. If we had hair, it no doubt would have been blowing backwards off our heads in certain parts of the show. We highly recommend it. Some of it is the standard fare already seen in some of the T: L trailers, but there is in fact new footage here that you can't see anywhere else, so you should check it out. We think DCA should consider screening the movie here. We'd love to see it in Disney 4-D.
Done with the show, it was off to the races again for the second item we were desperate to see in TRON Land, Flynn's Arcade. But once again, as we walked out of the theater, really loud techno music and abounding dancers (not to mention dastardly survey-takers) attempted to thwart us and take us off our assigned mission (we genuinely felt bad about parents trying to take their children on Monsters, Inc. at this point; the crowds were that bad). Ultimately, we were mesmerized by one dancer in particular, and it must have taken us a good 10 minutes to make our way past her.
Once past this sultry siren, we had our sights set on the backside of "The Grid" and the End of Line Club and Flynn's. There were a ton of people participating in eating, libations, and Wii playing all around the area.
But if the crowds were any indication, the place to be was inside Flynn's, so that's where we headed.
Disney's done a fantastic job with this place. Evoking memories of hanging out in arcades in our youth (including a token system) was a stroke of genius. Games like Galaga, Pac Man, Buck Rogers (really?) and Asteroids littered the gaming area. And of course, the one that was most important, TRON itself (including a line of people waiting to play it).
We didn't spend much time playing anything. In fact, we didn't play anything at all. Expect crowds in here, big time! But we couldn't resist plugging a dollar bill into the token machine and walking out with a token as a keepsake.
And on the way out, we stumbled on this fancy ElecTRONica Coke machine as well, complete with computer screen. In retrospect, maybe we should've bought a drink as well. Live and learn.
By this time, unfortunately, we had pretty much had enough, Laser Man or not (the only aspect of ElecTRONica we didn't experience; he seemed to have been delayed or something). We'd been in the area (all told) around 2 1/2 hours, and we heard these beef Burrito Sonoras from Rancho del Zocalo at Disneyland Park calling our names, so we headed back.
Overall, we'd have to say that we enjoyed ElecTRONica. It's certainly a worthy replacement to the Glow-Fest that Disney California Adventure had during the summer when World of Color debuted. In terms of their reasons for doing it, to drum up interest for the movie, I'd think that they certainly have a hit on their hands (there were certainly enough survey takers outside of the theater after the sneak-peek to indicate interest on Disney's part). And if the crowds were any indication, it's most definitely popular.
Even if you're not into dancing in the streets and loud techno music, there's certainly plenty interesting to see in other areas of the Backlot. In fact, given the opportunity again, we'd probably enjoy just hanging out back, eating and drinking, and watching everyone else enjoy the festivities.
If you haven't witnessed ElecTRONica for yourself yet, it's definitely recommended by Days In The Park. Make sure you take the time to check it out!
Disney's done a fantastic job with this place. Evoking memories of hanging out in arcades in our youth (including a token system) was a stroke of genius. Games like Galaga, Pac Man, Buck Rogers (really?) and Asteroids littered the gaming area. And of course, the one that was most important, TRON itself (including a line of people waiting to play it).
 |
| This line never got shorter while we were inside |
We didn't spend much time playing anything. In fact, we didn't play anything at all. Expect crowds in here, big time! But we couldn't resist plugging a dollar bill into the token machine and walking out with a token as a keepsake.
And on the way out, we stumbled on this fancy ElecTRONica Coke machine as well, complete with computer screen. In retrospect, maybe we should've bought a drink as well. Live and learn.
By this time, unfortunately, we had pretty much had enough, Laser Man or not (the only aspect of ElecTRONica we didn't experience; he seemed to have been delayed or something). We'd been in the area (all told) around 2 1/2 hours, and we heard these beef Burrito Sonoras from Rancho del Zocalo at Disneyland Park calling our names, so we headed back.
Overall, we'd have to say that we enjoyed ElecTRONica. It's certainly a worthy replacement to the Glow-Fest that Disney California Adventure had during the summer when World of Color debuted. In terms of their reasons for doing it, to drum up interest for the movie, I'd think that they certainly have a hit on their hands (there were certainly enough survey takers outside of the theater after the sneak-peek to indicate interest on Disney's part). And if the crowds were any indication, it's most definitely popular.
Even if you're not into dancing in the streets and loud techno music, there's certainly plenty interesting to see in other areas of the Backlot. In fact, given the opportunity again, we'd probably enjoy just hanging out back, eating and drinking, and watching everyone else enjoy the festivities.
If you haven't witnessed ElecTRONica for yourself yet, it's definitely recommended by Days In The Park. Make sure you take the time to check it out!
No comments:
Post a Comment