HKDL Grizzly Gulch Part Two: A New kind of Frontierland

In this part two of the HKDL Grizzly Gulch report we will have a look at the whole land, and especially the new little western town. It's really interesting as it is the first new "Frontierland" built by WDI Imagineers since 20 years, the last one was at Disneyland Paris, and this one is a totally different one, a new kind of Frontierland, never built before at any Disney theme parks. The part one of the report was all about the Big Grizzly Mountain ride with dozens of pictures and you can see it HERE.

As you will see the town itself, although the buildings have a western style, is another kind of western town. When i saw the pictures it reminded me the kind of western town that could have been built at Knott's Berry Farm. In terms of storyline this new town was not "in the old west" a big one like Thunder Mesa at DLP Frontierland, it looks more like a small town which was built probably after the mine was discovered. I'm waiting to see it by myself to have a final opinion but so far i think it's an interesting new kind of western town. The only thing which i don't like too much is that it seems they didn't do too much aging on the buildings. All this looks a little bit too much fresh and new. I know that it IS new, and may be HKDL Imagineers did it that way thinking that Hong Kong weather will do the "aging" job, which is partly right, but if i meet them one day i will ask them why they haven't done more "aging" as i'm curious to know the answer.

You can access Grizzly Gulch either from Adventureland or Toy Story Land as a path has been created through Mystic Point which will open only next year. In this report we will access it through Adventureland and below is the entrance to Grizzly Gulch...



...where guests can find welcome signs like the one above and below.



On your way to the town you can watch the HKDL railroad passing by - no Grizzly Gulch train station, though.





Walking toward the town you'll see on the left Big Grizzly Mountain while the town and his geysers will begin to appear.













You'll note this metallic bridge over the tracks of the BGM runaway mine cars ride...



Let's discover the town!





As you will see below there is a new Lucky Nugget Saloon!













Let's have a look at the restaurant food.









Not so far from the restaurant above there is a jail...and guests can take pictures of themselves as outlaws placing their head at the right place on the "wanted" posters.





Right in front of it - and it's done on purpose with humor by the imagineers - is displayed a huge gold nugget. No doubt that the thiefs in jail had enjoyed the view!



Like everyone - in fact even more than everyone - chinese love gold, so this BIG golden nugget will be for sure a popular photo location!



More pictures of others buildings of the town, beginning by the one of the Big Grizzly Mountain mine company which is the entrance to the ride...`

















Near the entrance of the BGM ride guests can find a wagon, selling plenty of merchandise - and of course bears plush.















On the walls of the town, some posters related to the mine.





I've posted in big size one of them yesterday, and today here is the other one!



But there is much more to see in Grizzly Gulch! So don't miss the next article in which we will discover the "geological" part of the town, its geysers, the water battle, splash areas, and more!

Pictures: copyright Marco or keith Lee whom i thanks a lot!

Don't miss the new HKDL Wallpapers HD App for iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch!
Direct iTunes link HERE!

HKDL Grizzly Gulch Part One: Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars

In this first article about HKDL new land Grizzly Gulch, we're going to have a look only at the Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars ride, from the entrance to the whole queue theming, as well as the bears audio-animatronics scenes. I tried to put the pictures that were sent to me in the right order but it's always difficult when you're far away and never done the ride yourself. Anyway, i did my best and also, some of the pictures are night pictures. All the pictures were shot by either Marco or Keith, whom i thanks again a lot.

There we go, and we begin with the ride building entrance, the one of Big Grizzly Mountain mine company.



The height and health requirement infos at the entrance of Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars.



All the pictures below show the queue decor with antique mine props. Again, i might be wrong in the order of the scenes. According to Marco and Keith the queue is full of great props and details and you can see through a hole the train track under, and hear people on the train screaming as well as bears roarings each time the mine cars are passing underground.











































The boarding room, all aboard the mine cars!



The train departure, when it goes out of the mine company building.



Direction: Big Grizzly Mountain mine, and the first scene with the Audio-Animatronics bears.





Moving outside again, with pictures of the train in the lift where a cable is supposed to broke, sending the mine cars backward at high speed.





The train track with some of the little geysers, when the mine cars go backward.









The dynamite boxes that you can see before entering another tunnel with the second scene with the Audio-Animatronics bears.



The second scene with the Audio-Animatronics bears. Note the baby bear who is involuntarily pushing on the dynamite detonator while his mother is trying to catch the fishes.



The catapult launch, thanks to the "dynamite blast"...and a little bit of modern technology.



More track outside before going back to unload in the mine building...



...and the last scene with the Audio-Animatronics bears who finally succeeded to catch the fishes.



If you've missed the POV Video posted yesterday, here it is again. My feeling about this ride is that it will be extremely successful and it was done in a very smart way. You have a bit of Big Thunder for the mine theming, some charming audio-animatronics bears, a bit of Expedition Everest for the backward sequence, and even a bit of Rock and Roller Coaster for the catapult launch. It's just like if WDI Imagineers took the best parts of each ride to create a new one with the addition of the Audio-Animatronics scenes. Keith told me that the ride itself was over his expectations and that the bears are lovely! He liked the look WDI gave to the bears, something between reality and cute plush. Anyway, i think this ride is a major addition for HKDL and will be tremendously successful! Very good job from the Imagineers!




One more thing to end this article, with one of the poster that you can see on the walls of Grizzly Gulch near the Big Grizzly Mountain mine. The poster is here in big size, so click on it to get it in larger scale!



Thanks again a lot to Marco and Keith for their great pictures and in my next article we will explore the town of Grizzly Gulch as there is much more than the ride to enjoy in this land!



Don't miss the new HKDL Wallpapers HD App for iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch!
Direct iTunes link HERE!