The Lowdown on the Plus-up - A Theme Park Podcast

We contend that there is nothing more patriotic than being conned into believing that water runs uphill.

Step into a world where the laws of physics seemingly take a vacation as we explore America's beloved gravity-defying roadside attractions. From the Santa Cruz Mystery Spot to Confusion Hill nestled in California's redwoods, these quirky destinations have been baffling and delighting travelers since the '40s.
The long and cloudy history of Gravity Shacks/Confusion Hills/Mystery Spots are living reminders of the wonders of weird roadside attractions and a kind of quirky, delightful, oddball America that Pete...

We're wrapping up our first season of theme park adventures with a look back at what we've accomplished and a peek at what's coming in Season 2. From humble beginnings as a "way for our partners to get rid of us for a few hours every week," we're so thrilled at what this has become.

Today is a wrap-up featuring some of what we've covered, current news and a peek at where we're going:

• Latest update on Evermore Park – the purchase deal has fallen through after disputes over what was included in the sale
• Disney's Galact...

Step with us into Tomorrowland, that curious realm where yesterday's futures linger in an increasingly static present. Why do Disney fans profess deep love for a land they rarely prioritize visiting? The answer lies in Tomorrowland's remarkable journey from hasty afterthought to kinetic wonderland to its current static identity crisis.

Our live audience at the Howard Johnson's "Suite of the Retro Future" helps us dissect what made Tomorrowland truly magical - not science fantasy, but genuine progress in motion. The 1967 "New Tomorrowland" represented a perfect convergence of transportation systems: monorails gliding overhead, PeopleMovers circulating endlessly, submarines diving...

Step back into the age of sword and sorcery as we unravel the untold story of Universal Studios' most dangerous and innovative attraction: the Conan the Barbarian Sword and Sorcery Spectacular. This legendary stunt show wasn't just entertainment—it was a revolution that forever changed how theme parks approach live experiences.

From Robert E. Howard's complex literary character to Frank Frazetta's iconic artistic vision and Arnold Schwarzenegger's silver screen portrayal, we trace Conan's evolution before diving deep into the attraction that dared to use real fire, military-grade lasers, and death-defying stunts to wow audiences. The show's creation ma...

Join us for part two of the strangest story we've told thus far.
The 1990s launch with a particularly charming story about jet packs, The Rocketeer. But then Kinnie Gibson, Brad Barker, Larry Stanley and Bill Suitor return to pick up a story that involves assault, murder, kidnapping and a giant flying beer can.
Strap in! And remember, when the helmet vibrates, you only have 14 seconds to find a place to land!

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Notes:
Rondo Hatten - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rondo_Hatton
The RB 2000 - http://www.inventordoug.com/07RocketBelt...

What if I told you that the man who flew above Disneyland's Tomorrowland in the 1960s wasn't on wires, but strapped to actual jet engines? The remarkable true story of the rocket belt at Disney parks is more fascinating—and bizarre—than you might imagine.

Kelly and Pete explore the surprising origins of personal flight technology, beginning with Wendell Moore of Bell Aeronautics, who adapted stabilization jets from Chuck Yeager's sound barrier-breaking X-1 aircraft into a wearable rocket pack. Though limited to just 21 seconds of flight time and powered by 90% pure hydrogen peroxide, these devices captured worldwide imag...

A quick note between talking about the Prince of Darkness and the Darkness of the Future!
Full episode coming very soon.

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Come visit us on Bluesky, Mastodon, Instagram, or whatever social media you like. Just look up Lowdown on the Plus-Up and you'll probably find us. Or drop us a note to comments@lowdown-plus-up.com and let us know any questions or comments about how YOU would like to plus-something-up!<...

In part two of Transylvanian Tumbleweeds we explore the legacy of Dracula-themed attractions, particularly focusing on the Castle Dracula experience at Universal Studios. We discuss the concept of the "JayBang" introduced by Jay Stein and the challenges faced as audience tastes shifted, leading to innovative adaptations in modern amusement parks.

• Exploration of Universal Studios' background 
• Delving into the concept of "JayBang" 
• Nostalgia surrounding Castle Dracula 
• The impact of cultural changes on horror representation 
• Insights into Bill Tracy's influence in theme park design 
• Upcoming Universal Horror Land discussions 

Thanks for listening!

In part one of our exploration of the Transylvanian tyrant turned tourist trap, we break down some of Dracula's origins. Don't worry, this is not going to be that same old "Dracula is based on Vlad the Impaler" lecture that you've already heard. It's much stranger than that. And much more wonderful.
Then we start to place the good Count into some of his earliest theme park appearances.
Part 2 should be up next week!

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Ken Bruce spent 16 years researching and writing about the most important piece of theme park pop art ever made: Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room. The resulting book not only tells the history of that attraction, but serves to show how its story is the story of how we see the modern theme park as a whole.
Ken was kind enough to spend some time talking with us about his book and the stories and myths surrounding Walt Disney's most personal attraction which, over six decades later, is still delighting audiences at Disneyland.

His book "Before the...

An opening day attraction in both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, Mr. Toad is surprising fan favorite given that it plays like an outtake of a film that not that many people have seen and ends in punishment.
We love it.
Join us for an exploration of the ride that started Claude Coats' theme park career: Mr. Toad's Wild Ride!

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It's one of the quirkiest theme park attractions of all time. Disneyland, for the first time ever, took on pure science fiction and hit it out of the park. It was like riding through an episode of "Outer Limits" or "Twilight Zone" (and was notably influenced by "Twilight Zone" writer Richard Matheson) and was unique in its effective simplicity and brilliance of design.
Join us as we revisit one of our favorite attractions of all time, Monsanto's "Adventure Thru Inner Space!"
 “For though your body will shrink, your mind will expand!”

Thanks for listening!

W...

Another amuse-bouche one between the big shows.
Let us know if you like these.
And review us on your podcast platform of choice, please.  We'd really appreciate it.

Thanks for listening!

We'd love it if you would give us a review on your podcast platform of choice. They're really helpful.

Come visit us on Bluesky, Mastodon, Instagram, or whatever social media you like. Just look up Lowdown on the Plus-Up and you'll probably find us. Or drop us a note to comments@lowdown-plus-up.com and let us know any q...

It was a small park in rural San Jose with off-the-shelf rides and entertainment liberally lifted from Disneyland; so why is it so beloved? Is there another regional theme park in the country that has yearly reunions four DECADES after it closed? What was the magic behind Frontier Village?
Playland at the Beach, The San Francisco Opera, Fantasia, Puppetoons and two very interesting apes - one animated and one day-glo - all factor into the story of one of California's most beloved attractions, Frontier Village. 

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Another mid-opus Minnie-sode!  Full episode next week! In the meantime, catch Pete as Mr. Hives in Hayward introducing "The Tingler" tonight and "Night of the Living Dead" next Monday.
Tix available here, https://douglasmorrissontheatre.thundertix.com/events


Enjoy!

Thanks for listening!

Thanks for listening!

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Another mid-opus Minnie-sode!  Goff, Renaday, Buzzy! More singing!
Enjoy!

Thanks for listening!

We'd love it if you would give us a cheeky little review on your podcast platform of choice. They're really helpful.

Come visit our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1511094196139406 or drop us a note to comments@lowdown-plus-up.com and let us know any questions or comments about how YOU would like to plus-something-up!

We are a Boardwalk Times production.
Boardwalk Times, https://boardwalktimes.net/
Boardwalk Times store, https://boardwalktimes.store .

Our first Minnie-sode! To bridge the gaps between full episodes we're laying down a more casual - and far shorter - episode devoted to thoughts about things that happened this week in theme park history.
Hope you enjoy.

Thanks for listening!

We'd love it if you would give us a cheeky little review on your podcast platform of choice. They're really helpful.

Come visit our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1511094196139406 or drop us a note to comments@lowdown-plus-up.com and let us know any questions or comments about how...

It exists in a nexus between three time periods: the future, the retro-future and the nostalgic past. The Main Street Electrical Parade is the most famous Disney parks parade for a good reason, it somehow synthesizes everything that is contained in Walt's original park - fantasy, history, progress - in a joyous and timeless spectacle.

And Walt Disney was long gone before it was conceived making this perhaps the best answer ever to the question "What would Walt have done."
He'd have done this.


Also, see Pete live!  Pete will be appearing live i...

If you take a left turn around 1929, you end up here: where the jazz band triumphed over the orchestra, where sexy usurped formal, where a very different theme park empire began, and died.
Welcome to Fleischer Land.  Keep an eye out for hidden Bettys!

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We'd love it if you would give us a review on your podcast platform of choice. They're really helpful.

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When we pick up a fake gun and shoot it at a fantastical electric target, what are we trying to become? What do we think Frontierland is? Who is Paul MacGlashan and how did the guy that designed Disney's shooting galleries help win WWII? 
And, most importantly, How did Kelly and Pete find themselves so mired in the kind of Disney current affair news that they usually avoid like the plague?

It's the history of SHOOTIN' STUFF at Disney Theme parks!

(Also, a link to that Frontierland article we keep talking about, https://boardwalktimes.n...

Fire up your Flux Capacitors, people, because we're heading back, back, back in time!
We're traveling to the early-20th Century to visit some houses that ought not spin the way they do, the '60s to visit that same Not-Really-A-World's-Fair that we keep yammering on about and, of course, the '80s - where Huey Lewis lives.

It's the ride that saved Universal Theme Parks, Back to the Future!

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We'd love it if you would give us a review on your podcast platform of choice. They're really helpful.<...

We go out on a limb this episode by philosophizing about the uses and abuses of guest interactivity within theme parks and other forms of live entertainment. We get real philosophical and voices get kind of contemplatively husky (or Kelly is still getting over a cold).
Along the way we visit Knotts Berry Farm, the Galactic Starcruiser, Evermore, live murder mysteries and Renaissance Faires.
We hope you like it.

Please consider rating our show and subscribing to it on your podcast platform of choice.

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A puzzling anomaly today - we dive for hours on packed highways to a place where we pay money to simulate driving on packed highways - the Richfield Autopia attraction was once a vision of an America poised on the brink of progress and possibility.
Kelly and Pete go on a pilgrimage to Disneyland to consider its history in person and meet legendary Imagineer Bob Gurr along the way!
It's a show packed with ride-vehicles, ghost towns and the evolution of labor relations in America. The highway we're traveling on will definitely be the scenic route.
<...

It's been in the parks so long that it seems simply part of Disneyland's fabric, which it is.
The Jungle Cruise is almost synonymous with the idea of "theme park." But it struggled with its identity for a very long time before becoming that attraction that we all know and love today.
And some of the most fundamental players in its development have been obscured by time and corporate revisionist history.
Join us as we travel the Rivers of Adventure at Disneyland Park, prior to the arrival of a certain fedora'd adventurer. 

Please consider r...

After Sleeping Beauty Castle, there may be no more important icon of the first few decades of Disneyland than The Golden Horseshoe Saloon.
Wally Boag, Betty Taylor and Fulton Burley held court, every day, in Frontierland's grandest meetin' place, for thirty years.
But what exactly was it?
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We are a Boardwalk Times production.
Boardwalk...

Once the most modern of resorts, the story of The Disneyland Hotel goes from the Governor's mansion in 1930s Texas to an engineering miracle in 1815 Cairo... At least that's how we tell it.
Trust us, this is a strange ride.

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The icon of all theme park icons, Sleeping Beauty Castle. While it's the smallest of the Disney parks' castles, it has the richest, and strangest, history.

Watch out, in this episode you will learn how something you probably thought was true about the Haunted Mansion is not, but is, instead, true for the Castle.

Come on into this dark, cramped, stairway; there's some stories you'll want to hear.

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We'd love it if you would give us a review on your podcast platform of choice. They're really helpful.
<...

We're chaining ourselves to Honest Abe and discussing why YOU should make a point of visiting him every time you go to Disneyland.
Walt would want you to.

Thanks for listening!

We'd love it if you would give us a review on your podcast platform of choice. They're really helpful.

Come visit us on Bluesky, Mastodon, Instagram, or whatever social media you like. Just look up Lowdown on the Plus-Up and you'll probably find us. Or drop us a note to comments@lowdown-plus-up.com and let us know any questions or comments...