Pooh's Hunny Hunt

Pooh's Hunny Hunt is a unique 'trackless' dark ride located at Tokyo Disneyland. It based on the adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and is the park's most popular attraction. The ride opened on September 1, 2000 and is located in Fantasyland.

History

After the rise in popularity of Walt Disney's film adaptation of Winnie the Pooh, Disney Imagineers made plans in the late 1970s for a Winnie the Pooh attraction at Disneyland's soon-to-be renovated Fantasyland. However in 1983, when the renovated Fantasyland reopened, a Winnie the Pooh attraction was notably absent.

Seven years later, during a period when the character was undergoing a resurgence in popularity, plans for a Winnie the Pooh attraction were approved at Walt Disney World. Planners utilized an existing structure, that of the Fantasyland attraction Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

The next version of the attraction, considerably different in configuration, was Pooh's Hunny Hunt, which opened in Tokyo Disneyland. Due to a closure of all of the Skyways at Disney Parks across the world, including Tokyo, a space was left where the Fantasyland Skyway station once stood. With a budget of over $130 million, and featuring a never-before-used 'trackless' ride technology, Pooh's Hunny Hunt opened in late 2000 to large crowds and praise by many Disney internet fansites. To date, the attractions continues to have some of the longest wait times of any attraction at the Tokyo Disney Resort.

Ride-through

You leave the boarding as a group of three cars, moving together as though they were linked like a train. After rounding the first bend you find yourself stopped and watching the attraction's introductory scene, a short video of Christopher Robin giving Winnie the Pooh a balloon. The other two cars are now parked beside you, and everyone has a front row seat.

The scene ends, and one by one the cars scoot off into the first major room of the attraction, the Blustery Day (based on Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day). This is a large room with many sights and sounds. The honey pots move around so the rider gets to see everything one bit at a time. Several other cars are also in the area with you, all choreographed to visit various parts of the room independently; stopping, starting and changing directions along the way.

The ride progresses through several more sequences. One scene has you next to Tigger as he bounces by. In another sequence you are inside Winnie the Pooh's dream, surrounded by giant Heffalumps and Woozles and spinning out of control. Pooh's subconscious is embodied in various ways, among them a fiber optic starfield and a nightmarish corridor resembling the tunnel that the chocolate river boat passes through in the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Ride system

Although track-based traditional dark rides based on Pooh do exist at Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland, and the Magic Kingdom, Pooh's Hunny Hunt is a different attraction entirely and is exclusive to Tokyo Disneyland.

Vehicle

The ride vehicles are fashioned to resemble honey pots; though these pots have wheels, they are completely hidden, giving the pots the appearance of "gliding" across the show scene's floors. Traditionally, dark ride vehicles are guided along an easily-visible track, and move at a (more or less) constant speed. The Pooh's Hunny Hunt vehicles have no visible means of guidance and appear to move through the attraction independently. Wildly stopping, starting, reversing direction, and even spinning, giving the ride its trademark whimsical and dreamlike visuals.

Track

This 'trackless' ride system is achieved not by GPS, as widely rumored, but by a custom LPS (local positioning system). The patented system works by directional data being relayed from a master control computer directly to each individual honey pot car through a complicated matrix embedded within the actual floor tiles. Every few seconds, the master computer generates a random path and ‘steers’ the honey pot in real-time, so as the cars roll through the ride the vehicles are, in fact, being told where to go. Because this system is in real-time, they can maneuver accordingly in just fractions of a second. This also allows for spontaneous yet synchronized ‘honey pot choreography’ with groups of honey pots (as many as 8 in a single show scene) appearing to ‘dance’ with the others, often timed with ‘beats’ in the music. Due to limitless variations possible, each journey through the attraction is unique.

Other LPS Uses

Aquatopia (at Tokyo DisneySea just next door) is the only other ride in the world to use this groundbreaking ride technology. It is unknown if this ride system will ever be built outside of Tokyo, although a ride based on Disney's Beauty and the Beast using the LPS system (teacups instead of honey pots) was designed by WDI before Hunny Hunt, yet still remains unbuilt. Pooh's Hunny Hunt has been rumored at having a budget of around $130 million, although this cost included the development and testing of the never-before-built LPS ride system.

ee also

* The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

External links

* [http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/tdl/english/7land/fantasy/atrc_pooh.html Official Information page]