THE UNIVERSAL STUDIOS TOUR ALBUM

Fans of the Universal Studios Tour, you're gonna wanna download this.

This utterly obscure LP was released as a souvenir at The Universal Studios Tour in 1979 (I think I actually had it, but lost it years ago). The album includes an in-depth AUDIO TOUR (?!) of park attractions, such as The Bionic Test Center, The Battle of Galactica, the special effects attraction, the monster makeup show Land of a Thousand Faces, the Airport '77 Screen Test Theatre and familiar sets from countless film and TV productions, including The Munsters, Leave It to Beaver, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, Rescue from Gilligan's Island, Animal House, Psycho, Harvey, and much, much more!

The shared file also has the original cover & liner notes, as well as a TON of vintage photos from the era. Awesome!

SOCIETY FOR INTERESTING PEOPLE: THE HAUNTED MANSION

My friend and fellow designer Keith (who was with me for the awesome Knott's Preserved event a few months ago) holds occasional gatherings of what he calls his "Society of Interesting People for the Advancement of Unique Social Recreation" -- a group of designers and fans who get together for lively discussion regarding themed & experiential entertainment. I've dubbed it the "Algonquin roundtable of theme-park nerds".

The Haunted Mansion is considered a guest and fan favorite at Disneyland, and among designers it is often held up as an example of inspired attraction design & dimensional storytelling. On the lovely Saturday afternoon of June 5th, 2010, we met up at Disneyland, and set aside nostalgia to look at this classic attraction with a critical designer’s eye.

First, Keith distributed a lengthy packet he'd created, filled with research, plans, and discussion questions. Then, we rode the attraction together, and met for a lengthy lunchtime discussion featuring special guest Imagineer and Disney Legend, Bob Gurr.

A wonderful time was had by all, and Bob was (as always) a witty, enthusiastic, wonderful guest of the group. Not only is he an amazing designer, he's a model of how to grow old gracefully, with an unbelievable amount of health, character, and spirit. He's very inspiring.

Click the pic to see a whole photo album of pictures.

TODAY'S TWEETS

13:35 Incredible theme park find: an old 1979 souvenir record LP from Universal Studios Tour tinyurl.com/2cwnot2 #in

15:37 "Society of Interesting People for the Advancement of Unique Social Recreation": Haunted Mansion Edition tinyurl.com/2cwe7wp #in

16:17 Empire Mag Posts Exclusive new TRON: LEGACY Photos: wp.me/pLxlZ-dy (via @FilmEdge) #flynnlives #in #fb

16:29 TRON Lightcycle Hallmark Christmas Ornament - tinyurl.com/2chml9l (via @animbear) #flynnlives

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