WEBVTT 00:00:01.559 --> 00:00:05.259 So, um, imagine for a second, right? You were 00:00:05.259 --> 00:00:09.800 throwing like the most extravagant multi -million 00:00:09.800 --> 00:00:12.640 dollar party of the entire decade. Okay. I can 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:14.820 picture that. You've sent out these beautiful 00:00:14.820 --> 00:00:17.179 embossed invitations. You've catered the absolute 00:00:17.179 --> 00:00:20.199 best food. You've hired a string quartet. Right. 00:00:20.300 --> 00:00:23.039 Sparing absolutely no expense. Exactly. Sparing 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:25.800 no expense. And you finally opened the grand 00:00:25.800 --> 00:00:28.320 doors on the big day. The adults are walking 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:31.480 around, they're sipping champagne, they're admiring 00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:33.420 the gorgeous architecture. Sounds like a pretty 00:00:33.420 --> 00:00:36.420 perfect event so far. It does, but then you look 00:00:36.420 --> 00:00:38.140 down and you suddenly realize you completely 00:00:38.140 --> 00:00:40.200 forgot to plan a single piece of entertainment 00:00:40.200 --> 00:00:43.359 for the kids. Oh no, that's bad. Yeah, families 00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:45.259 are just standing there, kind of staring at you, 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:46.859 waiting for the fun to start. I mean, that is 00:00:46.859 --> 00:00:49.640 basically the ultimate host's nightmare. Totally. 00:00:49.820 --> 00:00:51.600 You've built this beautiful space, but you've 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:55.679 completely alienated a core demographic. Right. 00:00:56.780 --> 00:01:00.719 happens to be a $1 .4 billion theme park expansion. 00:01:01.100 --> 00:01:03.520 The panic in the boardroom is, you know, very, 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:05.980 very real. Okay, so let's unpack this. Because 00:01:05.980 --> 00:01:08.299 that nightmare scenario is exactly what happened 00:01:08.299 --> 00:01:10.579 to the Walt Disney Company in 2001. It really 00:01:10.579 --> 00:01:14.560 was. Today, we are taking a deep dive into the 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:17.730 birth, the life, and the... honestly incredibly 00:01:17.730 --> 00:01:20.810 fascinating afterlife of a Bugsland. Yeah, a 00:01:20.810 --> 00:01:23.030 really unique piece of theme park history. We 00:01:23.030 --> 00:01:25.989 are pulling from a comprehensive Wikipedia dossier 00:01:25.989 --> 00:01:29.250 that details the history of this now defunct 00:01:29.250 --> 00:01:32.170 area at Disney California Adventure. Right. Our 00:01:32.170 --> 00:01:34.510 mission today for you listening is to figure 00:01:34.510 --> 00:01:37.650 out how a theme park land is born out of pure 00:01:37.650 --> 00:01:41.390 frantic corporate necessity and how Imagineers 00:01:41.390 --> 00:01:44.430 use sensory illusions to literally shrink you 00:01:44.430 --> 00:01:46.859 down to the size of an ant. Yeah, the psychology 00:01:46.859 --> 00:01:49.260 of that is fascinating. And also how a demolished 00:01:49.260 --> 00:01:51.840 land's physical legacy is secretly recycled right 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:54.239 under our noses. Because, you know, we aren't 00:01:54.239 --> 00:01:56.219 just taking a nostalgic trip down memory lane 00:01:56.219 --> 00:01:58.239 here. Right, right. What we are examining today 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:00.599 is, I mean, it's a master class in theme park, 00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:03.019 triage. Triage is the perfect word for it. Yeah. 00:02:03.480 --> 00:02:05.540 We're looking at the fascinating and sometimes 00:02:05.540 --> 00:02:08.360 quite ruthless life cycle of physical entertainment 00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:10.680 spaces. It's a look at what happens when art 00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:13.060 has to immediately solve a massive financial 00:02:13.060 --> 00:02:16.009 crisis. So... To really understand what a Bugs 00:02:16.009 --> 00:02:19.310 Land was, we first have to understand the existential 00:02:19.310 --> 00:02:22.129 crisis that forced it into existence. Exactly. 00:02:22.810 --> 00:02:26.849 The date is February 8, 2001. Disney California 00:02:26.849 --> 00:02:30.229 Adventure opens its gates right across the Esplanade 00:02:30.229 --> 00:02:34.069 from Disneyland. A huge deal at the time. Huge. 00:02:34.449 --> 00:02:36.930 They debut this sprawling area called the Golden 00:02:36.930 --> 00:02:40.530 State, which features a 3D theater showing it's 00:02:40.530 --> 00:02:43.120 tough to be a bug. Right. and an agricultural 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:46.460 exhibit called Bountiful Valley Farm. But almost 00:02:46.460 --> 00:02:48.740 immediately, the executives are staring at a 00:02:48.740 --> 00:02:51.159 massive problem. Yeah, they were. The attendance 00:02:51.159 --> 00:02:53.930 is just shockingly low. Right, because the data 00:02:53.930 --> 00:02:55.930 rolling in during those first few months pointed 00:02:55.930 --> 00:02:59.409 to two glaring fundamental omissions in the park's 00:02:59.409 --> 00:03:02.270 master plan. Only two? Well, two main ones. First, 00:03:02.449 --> 00:03:04.530 they lacked enough e -ticket attractions. Okay, 00:03:04.650 --> 00:03:06.050 and for those who don't know, e -ticket means? 00:03:06.409 --> 00:03:08.830 It's theme park jargon. Those are the major high 00:03:08.830 --> 00:03:10.990 -thrill flagship rides. Right, the ones that 00:03:10.990 --> 00:03:13.699 draw the teenagers and young adults. Exactly. 00:03:14.460 --> 00:03:17.240 And second, and perhaps more disastrously for 00:03:17.240 --> 00:03:21.199 a Disney park, there was a severe lack of rides 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:23.759 appropriate for young children. Which is crazy 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:26.199 for Disney. It is. I mean, they had built a beautiful 00:03:26.199 --> 00:03:28.620 park filled with high -end dining, wine tasting, 00:03:28.740 --> 00:03:32.340 and retail. Right. But the proportion of stores 00:03:32.340 --> 00:03:35.319 and restaurants to actual rideable attractions 00:03:35.319 --> 00:03:38.639 was just completely skewed. It's exactly like 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:40.319 opening that high end restaurant I mentioned 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:44.000 earlier. Yes. Perfect analogy. Realizing nobody 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:46.620 is coming because you forgot to print a kid's 00:03:46.620 --> 00:03:49.620 menu and frantically trying to build a playground 00:03:49.620 --> 00:03:51.879 out back while the guests are still eating their 00:03:51.879 --> 00:03:53.759 appetizers. That's literally what happened. You 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:56.080 are staring down a billion dollar investment 00:03:56.080 --> 00:04:00.219 that is failing to draw crowds. So Disney initiates 00:04:00.219 --> 00:04:02.740 a rapid response plan to stop the bleeding. They 00:04:02.740 --> 00:04:05.680 had to move fast. Right. They concurrently start 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:08.599 building the massive Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 00:04:08.599 --> 00:04:10.960 to solve the thrill ride problem. Which is a 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:13.159 classic. Such a classic. And they rush to build 00:04:13.159 --> 00:04:15.379 a kid -friendly area called Flick's Fun Fair, 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:18.660 which opened on October 7, 2002. Barely a year 00:04:18.660 --> 00:04:22.259 and a half later. Yeah, incredibly fast. But 00:04:22.259 --> 00:04:24.980 honestly, looking at the history here, I have 00:04:24.980 --> 00:04:26.920 to challenge the narrative a bit. Okay, go for 00:04:26.920 --> 00:04:29.920 it. This feels like a massive corporate cop -out. 00:04:30.180 --> 00:04:32.740 I mean, they literally panicked, bought a bunch 00:04:32.740 --> 00:04:35.939 of cheap, off -the -shelf carnival rides, and 00:04:35.939 --> 00:04:37.800 just threw them on the pavement. Right. Well, 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:40.660 what's fascinating here is how Disney used brilliant 00:04:40.660 --> 00:04:44.100 narrative storytelling to cover up what was, 00:04:44.139 --> 00:04:46.879 as you pointed out, a very real, very frantic 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:48.959 business correction. Okay, so it was a cover 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:51.560 -up. Kind of. You're right that these were largely 00:04:51.560 --> 00:04:54.480 off -the -shelf rides. Manufacturers like Zamperla 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:57.060 build these standard catalog spinner rides. Like 00:04:57.060 --> 00:04:59.180 ones you'd see at a county fair. Exactly. You 00:04:59.180 --> 00:05:01.240 typically see them at a traveling fair. They 00:05:01.240 --> 00:05:04.019 are fast to build and cheap to install. But that's 00:05:04.019 --> 00:05:07.060 so unlike Disney. Right. For a company like Disney, 00:05:07.220 --> 00:05:10.319 which prides itself on building bespoke, One 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:13.019 -of -a -kind ride systems from scratch, dropping 00:05:13.019 --> 00:05:16.519 a catalog ride onto the concrete is a major philosophical 00:05:16.519 --> 00:05:18.420 departure. So how did they get away with it? 00:05:18.579 --> 00:05:21.139 Well, they didn't just drop them. They created 00:05:21.139 --> 00:05:24.480 a meta layer of story to justify their existence. 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:28.459 Okay, wait. How do you justify buying a standard 00:05:28.459 --> 00:05:31.180 Carnival Spinner ride at a Disney park? By claiming 00:05:31.180 --> 00:05:33.730 the Imagineers didn't actually build it. Wait, 00:05:33.730 --> 00:05:36.970 what? Yeah. The fictional backstory for the land 00:05:36.970 --> 00:05:39.230 was that Flick and the other bugs from the Pixar 00:05:39.230 --> 00:05:43.009 movie A Bug's Life saw Disney California Adventure 00:05:43.009 --> 00:05:45.389 opening right next door to them. Oh, that's clever. 00:05:45.709 --> 00:05:48.949 Right. Seeing all these humans having fun inspired 00:05:48.949 --> 00:05:51.089 the bugs to build their own miniature fun fair. 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:54.199 Wow. The narrative goes that when the Imagineers 00:05:54.199 --> 00:05:56.399 were digging up the ground to build the nearby 00:05:56.399 --> 00:05:59.560 Tower of Terror, they discovered these bugs in 00:05:59.560 --> 00:06:02.000 the dirt. Oh my god. And they decided to just 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:05.259 open up FlixFair to the park guests. That is 00:06:05.259 --> 00:06:07.540 amazing. Think about that for a second if you're 00:06:07.540 --> 00:06:09.699 listening. Think about a time you made a massive 00:06:09.699 --> 00:06:12.279 mistake at your job or forgot a crucial detail 00:06:12.279 --> 00:06:14.839 and had to creatively spin it as a deliberate 00:06:14.839 --> 00:06:17.120 choice. We've all been there. That is exactly 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:19.199 what they did. We didn't forget the kids rides. 00:06:19.420 --> 00:06:21.500 The bugs just built them. It is a perfect bridge 00:06:21.500 --> 00:06:24.920 between absolute corporate necessity and creative 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:28.000 art. It really is. Yeah. They took the new name. 00:06:28.819 --> 00:06:33.480 A Bugs Land folded in the existing. It's tough 00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:36.870 to be a bug. theater in the farm area and officially 00:06:36.870 --> 00:06:39.430 rebranded the whole space. And it provided an 00:06:39.430 --> 00:06:41.910 in -universe excuse for why the rides looked 00:06:41.910 --> 00:06:44.350 like cheap carnival rides. Because bugs made 00:06:44.350 --> 00:06:47.029 them. Exactly. They were supposed to look makeshift 00:06:47.029 --> 00:06:50.310 because, in the story, insects had cobbled them 00:06:50.310 --> 00:06:52.290 together. Here's where it gets really interesting 00:06:52.290 --> 00:06:54.850 to me, though. Okay. Because having a clever 00:06:54.850 --> 00:06:57.389 backstory to solve a business problem is one 00:06:57.389 --> 00:07:00.310 thing, but the execution... is another entirely. 00:07:00.670 --> 00:07:02.910 Absolutely. How do you actually trick the human 00:07:02.910 --> 00:07:05.810 brain into feeling like it has physically shrunk 00:07:05.810 --> 00:07:07.949 down to the size of a tiny insect? That's the 00:07:07.949 --> 00:07:10.069 real challenge. The execution of these rides 00:07:10.069 --> 00:07:12.629 was just a masterclass in manipulating perspective. 00:07:12.870 --> 00:07:15.350 Like, take Flix Flyers, for example. The Zamperla 00:07:15.350 --> 00:07:17.110 Spinner Ride. Right, the Spinner Ride. It was 00:07:17.110 --> 00:07:19.589 basically an insect's version of upcycling. Right. 00:07:19.790 --> 00:07:21.649 The ride vehicles weren't just standard buckets. 00:07:22.009 --> 00:07:24.250 They appeared to be made from discarded human 00:07:24.250 --> 00:07:26.649 food containers. Like Chinese takeout boxes. 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:30.420 Yes, Chinese takeout boxes and empty raisin boxes 00:07:30.420 --> 00:07:33.040 all stitched together by leaves and twigs to 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:35.060 make these hot air balloons. That's a great visual. 00:07:35.339 --> 00:07:38.480 They whirled around this giant pie plate centerpiece. 00:07:39.319 --> 00:07:41.300 And the detail that stands out to me from our 00:07:41.300 --> 00:07:44.000 deep dive is the sound design. Oh, the sound 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:46.199 design is crucial. When the ride lifted off, 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:49.439 you didn't hear smooth, modern hydraulics. You 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:52.560 heard the audio of whirring, cranking gears. 00:07:52.680 --> 00:07:55.500 Yeah, and that auditory detail is really the 00:07:55.500 --> 00:07:58.160 glue holding the entire illusion together. Really? 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:01.000 Just the sound? Well, creating a believable environment 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:03.600 isn't just about building giant props. You can 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:06.339 build oversized takeout boxes all day long. Sure. 00:08:06.699 --> 00:08:09.879 But to fully override a guest's reality, especially 00:08:09.879 --> 00:08:11.600 when they know they're walking around a theme 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:14.730 park in Anaheim... You need a multi -sensory 00:08:14.730 --> 00:08:17.009 approach. That makes sense. You need auditory 00:08:17.009 --> 00:08:19.970 cues, like those cranking, grinding gears, to 00:08:19.970 --> 00:08:23.009 physically sell the weight and the makeshift 00:08:23.009 --> 00:08:25.569 nature of a bug -built contraption. It grounds 00:08:25.569 --> 00:08:28.370 the visual in physical reality. Exactly. It makes 00:08:28.370 --> 00:08:30.769 your brain believe the heavy object is actually 00:08:30.769 --> 00:08:34.009 moving. The gears are cool, but the thing that 00:08:34.009 --> 00:08:37.039 actually tricks my brain isn't sight or sound 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:40.419 at all, it's the smell. The smell is huge. Because 00:08:40.419 --> 00:08:43.519 one of the most beloved rides there was Heimlich's 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:46.519 chew -to train. Yes. You boarded a train shaped 00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:49.600 like Heimlich, the lovable, very hungry German 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:52.159 caterpillar from the movie. Voiced by the great 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:55.480 Joe Rams. Yes. He narrated the whole ride and 00:08:55.480 --> 00:08:57.600 the entire narrative was just him eating. Just 00:08:57.600 --> 00:09:00.519 eating constantly. The train physically drove 00:09:00.519 --> 00:09:04.519 through oversized portions of human food. Giant 00:09:04.649 --> 00:09:07.669 candy corn, giant carrots, but they piped in 00:09:07.669 --> 00:09:09.730 the actual scents of watermelon and the animal 00:09:09.730 --> 00:09:12.129 crackers as you drove through them. It's brilliant. 00:09:12.429 --> 00:09:14.570 I feel like that is almost cheating, honestly. 00:09:14.850 --> 00:09:17.490 Visuals you can ignore, but smell physically 00:09:17.490 --> 00:09:20.129 forces you to react. Why does that work so well? 00:09:20.309 --> 00:09:21.809 It feels like cheating because it's essentially 00:09:21.809 --> 00:09:24.500 a shortcut in your brain's wiring. Really? A 00:09:24.500 --> 00:09:26.620 shortcut. Yeah. The olfactory bulb, which is 00:09:26.620 --> 00:09:29.500 what processes smells, has a direct fast -track 00:09:29.500 --> 00:09:32.039 connection to the amygdala and hippocampus. OK. 00:09:32.419 --> 00:09:34.500 And those are the specific areas of your brain 00:09:34.500 --> 00:09:37.179 that handle deep emotion and memory formation. 00:09:37.580 --> 00:09:40.159 Wow. So it literally skips the logical part of 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:42.940 your brain. Exactly. Visuals and sounds have 00:09:42.940 --> 00:09:45.720 to be processed by your logical cortex. First, 00:09:45.940 --> 00:09:47.960 the part of your brain that knows you are on 00:09:47.960 --> 00:09:50.379 a ride. Right. The part saying, hey, this is 00:09:50.379 --> 00:09:54.559 plastic. Yes. Smell bypasses that logic completely. 00:09:54.620 --> 00:09:56.740 When they pipe in the scent of animal crackers, 00:09:57.120 --> 00:09:59.080 they are triggering your subconscious childhood 00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:01.779 memories immediately. That is wild. It creates 00:10:01.779 --> 00:10:04.419 a deep emotional bond with the physical space 00:10:04.419 --> 00:10:07.980 that visual cues alone simply cannot achieve. 00:10:08.600 --> 00:10:10.860 Think of that one specific smell from your childhood 00:10:10.860 --> 00:10:12.720 if you're listening right now. Maybe it's Play 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:15.580 -Doh with a smell of rain on hot asphalt. Or 00:10:15.580 --> 00:10:19.179 a specific brand of sunscreen. Yes. It transports 00:10:19.179 --> 00:10:21.679 you instantly. They literally hacked the human 00:10:21.679 --> 00:10:23.980 senses to make you feel nostalgic for a giant 00:10:23.980 --> 00:10:26.259 plastic watermelon. They really did. And they 00:10:26.259 --> 00:10:28.080 played with these elements across the whole land. 00:10:28.700 --> 00:10:31.779 You had Francis's Ladybug Boogie, which was a 00:10:31.779 --> 00:10:34.120 spinning figure eight ride. Right, like a teacup 00:10:34.120 --> 00:10:36.500 ride. But instead of typical chaotic carnival 00:10:36.500 --> 00:10:39.639 music, it was set to upbeat jazz music by the 00:10:39.639 --> 00:10:42.919 Tom Cunningham Orchestra. Which creates a deliberate 00:10:42.919 --> 00:10:46.100 cinematic contrast. Oh, so. Well, it elevates 00:10:46.100 --> 00:10:49.519 a standard teacup style ride into a choreographed 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:51.919 dance, completely changing the emotional tone 00:10:51.919 --> 00:10:54.480 of the physical movement. Oh, I see. Then there 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:57.519 was Princess Dot Puddle Park. This was a water 00:10:57.519 --> 00:11:00.139 play area, but the source of the water was a 00:11:00.139 --> 00:11:03.080 massively oversized garden hose nozzle. And a 00:11:03.080 --> 00:11:05.919 giant spigot. Right. That plays heavily into 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:08.899 physical spatial awareness. OK, tell me more 00:11:08.899 --> 00:11:11.740 about that. By making the garden hose massive, 00:11:12.039 --> 00:11:14.940 the guest is forced to physically look up. Your 00:11:14.940 --> 00:11:17.860 posture changes. Oh, wow. You are craning your 00:11:17.860 --> 00:11:20.679 neck the exact way a bug would when looking at 00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:23.360 human tools. The architecture actually dictates 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:25.840 your physical behavior. Reinforcing the disparity 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:28.320 in scale. Precisely. And then you had tuck and 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:31.139 rolls driving buggies. These were bumper cars 00:11:31.139 --> 00:11:33.700 set underneath a giant discarded human umbrella. 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:36.100 A classic. And the cars actually spoke to you 00:11:36.100 --> 00:11:38.529 with the voices of the pill bugs. But looking 00:11:38.529 --> 00:11:40.529 at the sources, I noticed the rules for this 00:11:40.529 --> 00:11:42.830 ride were surprisingly strict compared to the 00:11:42.830 --> 00:11:44.730 rest of the land. They were, yeah. You had to 00:11:44.730 --> 00:11:47.549 be at least 36 inches tall to ride, and if you 00:11:47.549 --> 00:11:49.730 wanted to drive alone, you had to be seven years 00:11:49.730 --> 00:11:53.720 or older. Why so strict in a land built entirely 00:11:53.720 --> 00:11:56.559 for toddlers? It all comes down to the kinetic 00:11:56.559 --> 00:11:58.840 unpredictability of the ride system. Meaning 00:11:58.840 --> 00:12:01.200 what, exactly? Well, think about Heimlich's train 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:04.159 or Flick's Flyers. Those are controlled, passive 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:07.120 experiences. You sit and the ride moves you on 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:09.159 a track. Right, you're just along for the ride. 00:12:09.639 --> 00:12:12.059 Exactly. Bumper cars introduce physical impact 00:12:12.059 --> 00:12:14.870 and human error. In theme park design, strict 00:12:14.870 --> 00:12:17.409 age and height restrictions are a necessary reality 00:12:17.409 --> 00:12:19.269 check. Oh, because guests are controlling them. 00:12:19.389 --> 00:12:22.029 Yes. The moment you give a guest control of a 00:12:22.029 --> 00:12:23.909 vehicle that is designed to actively collide 00:12:23.909 --> 00:12:26.629 with other vehicles, physical safety protocols 00:12:26.629 --> 00:12:29.370 have to completely override the immersive illusion. 00:12:29.629 --> 00:12:32.610 Makes total sense. So the illusion of being a 00:12:32.610 --> 00:12:35.549 bug was perfectly executed. They solved the early 00:12:35.549 --> 00:12:38.009 attendance crisis. They built a multi -sensory 00:12:38.009 --> 00:12:41.549 masterpiece using cheap rides and brilliant storytelling. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:44.059 And it worked. Families flocked to it. It was 00:12:44.059 --> 00:12:46.820 a huge success. But eventually, the real world 00:12:46.820 --> 00:12:49.240 economics of Thien Park Real Estate began to 00:12:49.240 --> 00:12:51.980 encroach on this tiny utopia. They always do. 00:12:52.379 --> 00:12:56.600 So what does this all mean? In 2010, the Bountiful 00:12:56.600 --> 00:12:59.639 Valley Farm section, which was one of the original 00:12:59.639 --> 00:13:02.840 areas from opening day, was permanently closed. 00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:05.539 and completely demolished. Demolished to make 00:13:05.539 --> 00:13:07.919 way for the massive Cars Land expansion, which 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:10.980 eventually opened in 2012. Right. And the arrival 00:13:10.980 --> 00:13:14.679 of Cars Land physically altered the DNA of a 00:13:14.679 --> 00:13:17.960 Bugs Land forever. How did it change it? Originally, 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:21.460 a Bugs Land relied on the concept of a single, 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:25.220 highly themed entrance. You walk through towering, 00:13:25.399 --> 00:13:28.679 oversized boxes of cereal and tall grass. Kind 00:13:28.679 --> 00:13:30.500 of slowly transitioning out of the human world. 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:33.440 Exactly. Shrinking down into this immersive bubble. 00:13:33.639 --> 00:13:35.659 But when Cars Land was built right next door, 00:13:36.039 --> 00:13:38.419 the park operators were forced to punch two brand 00:13:38.419 --> 00:13:40.539 new entrances through the perimeter walls. Oh, 00:13:40.600 --> 00:13:42.879 to improve crowd flow between the lands. Right. 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:45.159 And because of that, the immersive bubble was 00:13:45.159 --> 00:13:47.679 permanently compromised. You could suddenly see 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:49.740 out into the human world from inside the bug 00:13:49.740 --> 00:13:52.320 world. That totally breaks the illusion. It does. 00:13:52.539 --> 00:13:55.480 And then came the ultimate squeeze. On March 00:13:55.480 --> 00:13:58.860 20, 2018, Disney announced a bug land would close 00:13:58.860 --> 00:14:01.799 permanently to make room for an entirely new 00:14:01.799 --> 00:14:03.980 intellectual property. Avengers Campus. Yep. 00:14:04.539 --> 00:14:07.279 The theater for It's Tough to Be a Bug closed 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:09.679 almost immediately on March 19th, and the rest 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:12.059 of the land shut down for good on September 4th, 00:14:12.100 --> 00:14:14.960 2018. A huge shift for the park. The bugs were 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:17.860 just paved over for Marvel superheroes. Is this 00:14:17.860 --> 00:14:20.100 a tragedy for theme park history, or is this 00:14:20.100 --> 00:14:23.460 just the ruthless, necessary nature of real estate? 00:14:23.769 --> 00:14:25.610 Well, this raises an important question about 00:14:25.610 --> 00:14:28.110 how we view the life cycle of physical spaces. 00:14:28.110 --> 00:14:31.269 It is incredibly easy to view closures through 00:14:31.269 --> 00:14:33.610 a lens of pure nostalgia and mourn them as a 00:14:33.610 --> 00:14:35.750 loss of art. Right. People get very attached. 00:14:35.830 --> 00:14:38.809 They do. But a theme park is a living, breathing 00:14:38.809 --> 00:14:41.850 ecosystem constrained by very strict physical 00:14:41.850 --> 00:14:44.230 borders. They can't just expand outward forever. 00:14:44.269 --> 00:14:47.169 They're locked in. A Bugs Land served a vital 00:14:47.169 --> 00:14:50.590 evolutionary purpose. It literally saved Disney 00:14:50.590 --> 00:14:52.990 California Adventure in those early years by 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:55.559 as a magnet for the families that were actively 00:14:55.559 --> 00:14:57.340 ignoring the park. It was the band -aid that 00:14:57.340 --> 00:15:00.259 kept the patient alive. Precisely. But as the 00:15:00.259 --> 00:15:03.240 park evolved, and as wildly successful expansions 00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:05.679 like Cars Land changed the demographic makeup 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:08.539 of the visitors, the physical footprint a Bugs 00:15:08.539 --> 00:15:11.779 Land occupied simply became too valuable. Wow. 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:15.159 So it was just economics. In this enclosed ecosystem, 00:15:15.379 --> 00:15:19.139 the strong survive. Marvel is a global, multi 00:15:19.139 --> 00:15:22.269 -billion dollar juggernaut. It requires a massive 00:15:22.269 --> 00:15:24.590 physical footprint. Right. Outgrowing a Bud's 00:15:24.590 --> 00:15:26.909 Land wasn't a failure of imagineering. It was 00:15:26.909 --> 00:15:29.809 a testament to the park's overall economic recovery 00:15:29.809 --> 00:15:32.450 and growth. Think about that concept in your 00:15:32.450 --> 00:15:34.450 own life for a minute. You might have had a perfect 00:15:34.450 --> 00:15:37.590 tool or a perfect daily routine. Or even a tiny, 00:15:37.730 --> 00:15:40.370 perfect apartment. Yes. An apartment 16 years 00:15:40.370 --> 00:15:42.309 ago that completely saved you at the time. It 00:15:42.309 --> 00:15:45.110 was exactly what you needed. But if you try to 00:15:45.110 --> 00:15:47.149 force that old routine or that old apartment 00:15:47.149 --> 00:15:50.220 to fit your life and your needs today, It just 00:15:50.220 --> 00:15:52.919 doesn't work. The seeds burst. Exactly. Outgrowing 00:15:52.919 --> 00:15:55.379 something isn't a failure, it's progress. You 00:15:55.379 --> 00:15:57.779 have to demolish the old structures to make room 00:15:57.779 --> 00:16:00.139 for the new ones. That's a highly accurate way 00:16:00.139 --> 00:16:03.899 to look at it. The space served its exact purpose 00:16:03.899 --> 00:16:06.720 beautifully for over a decade, and then the needs 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:09.539 of the population simply outgrew it. It was just 00:16:09.539 --> 00:16:11.779 time. It was time for the next iteration of the 00:16:11.779 --> 00:16:13.679 land. But you know, the physical land may have 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:16.690 been demolished in 2018, but... Imagineers are 00:16:16.690 --> 00:16:18.610 famous for never truly throwing anything away. 00:16:18.970 --> 00:16:21.250 Oh, they save everything. Let's talk about the 00:16:21.250 --> 00:16:23.590 afterlife of a bug's land because it operates 00:16:23.590 --> 00:16:26.549 almost like theme park organ donation. That's 00:16:26.549 --> 00:16:28.929 a great term for it. Pieces of those bugs are 00:16:28.929 --> 00:16:30.990 literally keeping other parts of the park alive 00:16:30.990 --> 00:16:34.389 today. It's a practice we could call theme park 00:16:34.389 --> 00:16:38.330 archaeology. The designers are incredibly sentimental 00:16:38.330 --> 00:16:40.730 about their own creations, but they are also 00:16:40.730 --> 00:16:42.970 remarkably resourceful with their budgets. Oh, 00:16:42.970 --> 00:16:45.690 I'm sure. Remember Flix Flyers, the upcycled 00:16:45.690 --> 00:16:47.750 balloon ride with the Chinese takeout boxes? 00:16:47.789 --> 00:16:51.009 Yes. They didn't scrap it for parts. They physically 00:16:51.009 --> 00:16:53.929 unbolted the entire ride mechanism, moved it 00:16:53.929 --> 00:16:57.070 across the park to the Pixar Pier area, completely 00:16:57.070 --> 00:16:59.570 rethemed the vehicles. And it operates today 00:16:59.570 --> 00:17:02.340 as the inside out emotional whirlwinds. It's 00:17:02.340 --> 00:17:06.079 just amazing. And that recycling went far beyond 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:08.980 just the physical ride mechanics. It extended 00:17:08.980 --> 00:17:11.299 deeply into the audio files and the human history 00:17:11.299 --> 00:17:13.819 of the land. Oh, you mean Heimlich? Yeah. Heimlich 00:17:13.819 --> 00:17:15.839 the Caterpillar, as we discussed earlier, was 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:19.220 voiced by Joe Raft. Right. He was a legendary 00:17:19.220 --> 00:17:22.539 Pixar story artist and voice actor who tragically 00:17:22.539 --> 00:17:26.180 passed away in 2005. Such a loss. It was. But 00:17:26.180 --> 00:17:28.640 the Imagineers didn't just delete his audio files 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:30.880 when the Choo Choo train was dismantled. They 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:33.619 do. They salvaged those original audio recordings 00:17:33.619 --> 00:17:36.819 and repurposed them for a boardwalk game on Pixar 00:17:36.819 --> 00:17:39.640 Pier called Heimlich's Candy Corn Toss. Wow, 00:17:39.779 --> 00:17:42.660 that is so cool. They also took one of the actual 00:17:42.660 --> 00:17:45.279 physical train cars from the ride and shipped 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:48.269 it up to Pixar Animation's in Emeryville. Oh, 00:17:48.430 --> 00:17:51.390 wait, really? Yeah. It sits there as a permanent 00:17:51.390 --> 00:17:54.309 memorial to him on their campus. It ensures his 00:17:54.309 --> 00:17:56.410 voice and his creative work continue to exist 00:17:56.410 --> 00:17:59.130 in the very spaces he helped build. It's incredibly 00:17:59.130 --> 00:18:01.869 touching. But they also left pieces of the bugs 00:18:01.869 --> 00:18:05.150 right there on the exact same dirt, hiding them 00:18:05.150 --> 00:18:07.470 inside the new Marvel area, Avengers campus. 00:18:07.829 --> 00:18:11.329 The Easter eggs, the hidden tributes to what 00:18:11.329 --> 00:18:15.000 used to stand on that ground. Yes. If you go 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:17.720 grab a drink at the Pym Tasting Lab in Avengers 00:18:17.720 --> 00:18:20.980 Campus and you look up at the ceiling, you will 00:18:20.980 --> 00:18:24.730 see enlarged oversized Christmas lights hanging 00:18:24.730 --> 00:18:27.549 there. I've seen those. That is the exact same 00:18:27.549 --> 00:18:30.230 aesthetic and lighting style used to illuminate 00:18:30.230 --> 00:18:32.450 Flick's Fun Fair. That's brilliant. And over 00:18:32.450 --> 00:18:34.730 in the web slinger's ride during the pre -show 00:18:34.730 --> 00:18:37.509 video featuring Tom Holland, there is a claw 00:18:37.509 --> 00:18:39.890 machine in the background filled with random 00:18:39.890 --> 00:18:41.869 items. You really have to look closely for this 00:18:41.869 --> 00:18:43.730 one. Yeah, if you look super closely at the screen, 00:18:43.970 --> 00:18:46.329 one of the items inside the machine is a pair 00:18:46.329 --> 00:18:50.690 of the iconic 3D bug eye glasses from the original 00:18:50.690 --> 00:18:53.339 theater. It's tough to be a bug theater. They 00:18:53.339 --> 00:18:55.720 even honored the original opening day agriculture 00:18:55.720 --> 00:18:58.200 exhibit that predated the bugs. The Bountiful 00:18:58.200 --> 00:19:00.900 Valley Farm. Yes. Inside the Pimtesk Kitchen, 00:19:01.160 --> 00:19:03.740 there are massive oversized ketchup and mustard 00:19:03.740 --> 00:19:05.980 bottles hanging from the ceiling. Right. If you 00:19:05.980 --> 00:19:08.400 read the microscopic fine print on the labels 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:11.279 of those bottles, there is a direct written tribute 00:19:11.279 --> 00:19:13.779 to Bountiful Valley Farm. Why go through the 00:19:13.779 --> 00:19:16.299 trouble though? I mean, why hide a reference 00:19:16.299 --> 00:19:20.180 to an agricultural exhibit from 2001 on a ketchup 00:19:20.180 --> 00:19:23.059 bottle in a Marvel restaurant in 2021? It is 00:19:23.059 --> 00:19:25.599 a very specific type of thematic continuity. 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:28.839 Imagineers leave these Easter eggs to reward 00:19:28.839 --> 00:19:31.779 the longtime observant visitors. The super fans. 00:19:31.960 --> 00:19:34.059 Exactly. It preserves the corporate memory of 00:19:34.059 --> 00:19:36.579 the company and honors the history of the ground 00:19:36.579 --> 00:19:38.880 the guests are standing on. That is so deeply 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:40.980 layered. It creates an environment where the 00:19:40.980 --> 00:19:43.539 past is always subtly informing the present, 00:19:44.039 --> 00:19:46.079 making the park feel like a living city with 00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:48.960 real history, rather than just a sterile shopping 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:51.359 mall with a fresh coat of paint. So let's bring 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:54.019 it all together. A Bugs Land was far more than 00:19:54.019 --> 00:19:56.359 just a hastily assembled collection of spinning 00:19:56.359 --> 00:19:59.359 kids rides to keep toddlers busy. So much more. 00:19:59.420 --> 00:20:01.880 It was a strategic masterstroke that pulled a 00:20:01.880 --> 00:20:03.980 struggling billion -dollar theme park back from 00:20:03.980 --> 00:20:06.920 the brink of disaster. It was an immersive triumph 00:20:06.920 --> 00:20:10.140 that used oversized Chinese takeout boxes, the 00:20:10.140 --> 00:20:12.619 sound of cranking gears, and the hijacked psychology 00:20:12.619 --> 00:20:15.720 of watermelon scents to bypass our logical brains 00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:18.519 and shrink us down to size. Perfectly set. And 00:20:18.519 --> 00:20:21.220 even though it was eventually consumed by the 00:20:21.220 --> 00:20:23.759 relentless profitable march of Marvel superheroes, 00:20:24.440 --> 00:20:27.039 its legacy continues to hide in plain sight, 00:20:27.380 --> 00:20:29.980 scattered across the resort as a reward for anyone 00:20:29.980 --> 00:20:32.220 paying close enough attention. And you know, 00:20:32.279 --> 00:20:33.980 looking at all the source material, that actually 00:20:33.980 --> 00:20:37.200 leads to a final underlying thought about that 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:40.019 specific transition to Marvel. Oh. With that? 00:20:40.220 --> 00:20:42.900 Well, we know a bugs land was entirely dedicated 00:20:42.900 --> 00:20:45.180 to the visual perspective of being shrunken down 00:20:45.180 --> 00:20:48.180 to the size of an insect, making everyday human 00:20:48.180 --> 00:20:51.180 objects look massive. Right. And we know it was 00:20:51.180 --> 00:20:53.819 ultimately replaced by a vendor's campus. But 00:20:53.819 --> 00:20:56.400 specifically, the exact footprint where the bugs 00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:58.960 used to live is now heavily occupied by the pin 00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:00.960 -tasting lab and the pin -test kitchen. Wait. 00:21:01.309 --> 00:21:04.450 The Ant -Man themed areas. Exactly. Areas explicitly 00:21:04.450 --> 00:21:07.069 themed around a superhero whose entire scientific 00:21:07.069 --> 00:21:09.589 power revolves around shrinking and enlarging 00:21:09.589 --> 00:21:12.210 everyday items. Oh my God. You have giant ketchup 00:21:12.210 --> 00:21:15.069 bottles, oversized cell phones, and massive Christmas 00:21:15.069 --> 00:21:18.490 lights. It makes you wonder, you know, did the 00:21:18.490 --> 00:21:21.269 designers specifically choose the Ant -Man aesthetic 00:21:21.269 --> 00:21:24.930 for that exact plot of land as a secret high 00:21:24.930 --> 00:21:27.650 -tech spiritual successor? Candy's insane. Was 00:21:27.650 --> 00:21:30.710 replacing literal bugs with a shrinking superhero? 00:21:30.670 --> 00:21:34.490 the ultimate inside joke by the Imagineers. They 00:21:34.490 --> 00:21:37.390 basically kept the exact same visual illusion, 00:21:37.890 --> 00:21:40.730 oversized everyday props, but just swapped out 00:21:40.730 --> 00:21:42.650 the intellectual property from a caterpillar 00:21:42.650 --> 00:21:45.250 to a superhero. Exactly. It's like realizing 00:21:45.250 --> 00:21:47.710 the kid's party you forgot to plan actually ended 00:21:47.710 --> 00:21:49.369 up being the foundation for the coolest event 00:21:49.369 --> 00:21:50.910 of the year, just wearing a different costume. 00:21:51.009 --> 00:21:52.809 It really is. It's something for you to chew 00:21:52.809 --> 00:21:54.410 on next time you're walking through a theme park, 00:21:54.650 --> 00:21:56.650 eating an oversized pretzel. Look at the dirt, 00:21:56.789 --> 00:21:58.430 look at the lights, and keep looking for the 00:21:58.430 --> 00:22:01.240 hidden history right beneath your feet. Thanks 00:22:01.240 --> 00:22:03.680 for joining us on this deep dive. Stay curious 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:04.140 out there.