Photo Friday: High Tech

This gallery speaks to me of the technical sophistication that drives so many of the featured attractions at DisneyWorld. These photos illustrate the convincing illusion that one is a participant in some of the most memorable moments captured on film:

The atmosphere of adventure is kindled as we approach the booby-trapped, reptile-protected treasure in Raiders of the Lost Ark. We foolish and fearless raiders begin to squirm, imagining squirming snakes nearby…too close for comfort.

Suddenly we’re whisked through a swirling tornado that lands us on the yellow-brick road, amid the munchkins; conspiring against the Wicked Witch of the West, who appears from nowhere, in a puff of sulphur smoke. Were happy to tag along with Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Lion, on their pilgrimage to Oz. Oh no….we are feeling a little drowsy, I fear.

But wait! No time to sleep, as the Alien springs forth from its hidden lair in the entrails of our spaceship.

Danger past, for the moment, we take out our hankies and shed a tear for Ilsa and Rick as they separate for the greater good, on a foggy airstrip in Casablanca. The propellers whir, as the pilot revs his engines, reminding us that we must leave.

So ends our brief but sensory and realistic escape to fantasy, courtesy of the Disney Imagineers, and their HighTech capabilities, and little help from our own fantastic imaginations.