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An
Inside Look at Destination: Atlantis
Page 4 - "The Surface" and "The
Ocean Depths"
The
most popular interactive area for kids is upstairs - The
Surface - where kids can play Atlantean Laser Tag.
When visitors enter the Mission Briefing Area of Atlantean
Laser Tag, they watch a training video and suit up. There
are two teams - the Red team and the Green team - split
into groups of 10. When given the signal teams enter the
large glow in the dark (and fog filled) laser tag maze
and the battle begins. Battles usually last for four minutes
and their is a public viewing area. During the battle
dramatic music from the movie plays to enhance the experience.
Disney
has made all of its exhibits, including this one, friendly
for disabled people. The entire Destination: Atlantis
exhibit has wheelchair access and even allows blind people
with seeing eye dogs to fully participate in the activities.
Now
lets descend to The Ocean Depths:
When you first enter The Ocean Depths, you are allowed
to create your own Atlantean necklace, including a "crystal"
like the one Kida and other Atlantean's wore in the movie.
What's funny is that some of the kids will make their
crystal necklace then run up to The Vortex room and try
to insert the crystal into the Atlantean Ketak vehicles
as shown in the movie. Unfortunately there isn't a place
for the crystal on the vehicles!
Disney has set up several "Build Your Own Atlantis
The See it Crumble into the Sea" exhibits where kids
first build an empire on the land mass. After it is built,
visitors press a red button. A loud warning buzzer goes
off then...
An earthquake strikes and Atlantis is destroyed with most
pieces falling into the depths of the sea...
The "Learn to Speak Atlantean" exhibit helps
teach visitors certain phrases in Disney's Atlantean language.
Visitors put on the headsets then select one of the buttons
correlating to the desired phrase. The language is then
spoken in both English and Atlantean.
Disney also has interactive areas to help visitors learn
to write and decode in the Atlantean language. Visitors
can then take a piece of chalk and write in Atlantean
on huge walls and pillars specially designed for this
purpose.
If you tire of learning Atlantean, there are plenty of
game areas where guests can play official Disney Atlantis
games on systems like Game Boy Color.
Other interactive areas within "The Ocean Depths"
include coloring and taking blank sheets, putting them
against a plate and rubbing them to create an impression
of a scene from Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire
The
Destination: Atlantis exhibit also features costumed characters
from the movie that walk around the exhibit and interact
with the visitors.
Conclusion
Seeing Atlantis: The Lost Empire at the El Capitan
Theatre will cost $13 per person. The price grants visitors
access to the historic El Capitan Theatre to see Atlantis:
The Lost Empire projected digitally. After the movie,
guests are given free access to the Destination: Atlantis
exhibit next door. It's definitely worth not only visiting
this exhibit, but every exhibit that Disney puts out annually.
Like this year, last year's Dinosaur exhibit was
extremely well planned and executed. The time and effort
that goes into such a production shines. The exhibits
have been going for several years, starting back with
Pixar's animated Toy Story.
The
Historic El Capitan Theatre is located in Hollywood at
6838 Hollywood Boulevard. This is across the street from
the equally famous Mann's Chinese Theater. It is also
where the Hollywood Walk of Fame (stars with the names
of Hollywood greatest actors and actresses) grace the
footpath of visitors. Atlantis is airing digitally
at the El Capitan through July 15, 2001. The show times
are 9:30am, 11:50am, 2:10pm, 4:35pm, 7:00pm, and 9:20pm.
The ticket ordering line is 1-800-347-6396. Ticket prices
are $13 for adults and $11 for children.
--
Joe
Tracy is the publisher of Digital Media FX Magazine.
Special thanks to Paul Baribault and Elizabeth Wolfe.
Click
Here to Return to the Beginning of the Tour
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Digital Media FX Magazine - The Power of Imagination
All
Destination: Atlantis pictures were taken by Joe Tracy
and published here with the permission of Disney. Images
are ©2001 Digital Media FX magazine and may not be
republished or reused.
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