How Bowers Profile picture
WDW visitor from ’72-’99. Co-host @retrowdw podcast. Cocktail maker (@liquidluau), tiki fan & designer/developer. Witty theme park-inspired merch in the link…
Oct 11, 2022 11 tweets 5 min read
I don't want to ruffle any feathers, but it's time to finally debunk the legend that the robins seen through the window in Act 1 of the Carousel of Progress at WDW today were the same birds made for and filmed in Mary Poppins.
First, let's look at them in Mary Poppins. They're amazing, with wonderful fluid movements and highly detailed skins needed for being shot close up. And look how many functions (WED's term for discrete movements) they have: head turn, head tilt, body tilt, wing flap, tail splay!
Apr 8, 2022 13 tweets 4 min read
I’m going to try to compel Orlando local Disney fans to come to @RetroWDW’s RetroMagic event on April 24, two weeks from now. If you grew up going to WDW in the ‘80s and ‘90s you’ll flip… 🧵 We have many, many incredible guests. First off is Imagineer Jerry Rees. Everything in the ‘90s you liked, he either wrote & directed it or saved it. Shows like Alien Encounter… Image
Apr 25, 2021 5 tweets 2 min read
Imagine for a moment the potential complexity of rehabbing a system like the WEDWay in 2021. All the Disney employees who developed the technologies, like the liner induction motors (which they patented), are retired or dead. There's probably no internal resource to manufacture or repair the Linear Induction Motors, which were hardwired to propel the cars at the designated speed though each area, using embedded sensors to know when to turn on and off, or reverse in the case of an estop.
Dec 10, 2020 11 tweets 1 min read
Are they 10 good Star Wars series? Series 1: Love Boat, but set on the Galactic Starcruiser
Jul 2, 2020 13 tweets 5 min read
For years, I've read online that the meandering brown path running through Liberty Square is supposed to represent poop, thrown out of windows from chamberpots to settle in the street. Something seemed off though, but I couldn't put it together until tonight. Here's some history Herb Ryman did A LOT of concept art for Liberty Square. He'd been messing around with this concept since the 1950s for Disneyland. Look at the ground in these renderings. There's not a lot of poop, but there is something in all of them that's very consistent: cobblestone roads.
Mar 5, 2020 64 tweets 15 min read
Sallah's in the basement Mixing up the medicine