This Day in Pop Culture for October 12

2003: Disney Becomes “The Scariest Place on Earth”

Everyone knows that Disneyland is “The Happiest Place on Earth”, but in the late 1990’s, Disney’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida became known by some as “The Scariest Place on Earth.” At least, the “New Tomorrowland” was. Thanks to an attraction inspired by the very un-Disney movie Alien, the park was scaring the pants off people.

After his success with the Star Tours attraction, George Lucas was brought on to work on The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter. The storyline featured the mythical company, X-S Tech which had captured an alien. Afraid of being caught, the X-S scientist would attempt to destroy the test area along with the theme park guests.

The attraction opened on December 16, 1994, only to close on January 12, 1995, by then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner who thought it wasn’t scary enough. It was reopened on June 20, 1995, with a different storyline.

Guests were now welcomed by a video presentation that featured Tyra Banks as an alien (but voiced by another actress). The next room featured the Audio-Animatronic robot S.I.R. (Simulated Intelligence Robotics) voiced by Tim Curry, X-S Tech Chairman (Jeffrey Jones), Dr. Femus (Kathy Najimy) and Spinlock (Kevin Pollak) showing a demonstration where a cute alien creature evaporates in one tube and reemerges in another one a little worse for wear. Then in the final room, guests were seated in a round room with safety harnesses in place to watch the same demonstration with supposed improvements. Instead, the alien was transformed into a horrible monster who broke free. Then the lights went out and sounds of the monster running around and eating guests in the dark was just too much for some to take.

On this day in 2003, the alien scared guests for the last time. The attraction reopened as Stitch’s Great Escape using basically the same set up, but this time it was cute Stitch causing mayhem. The new change didn’t sit well with some guests saying that Disney ruined the attraction. For others, the ride was still a bit too scary for their little ones. The attraction closed for good on July 16, 2020.

In 2024, Alien Encounter made a return – sort of. Inspired by the original attraction, Adam Franklin and Amit Itelman created a new messy stage show. The two are from theatre group, Trepany House and their special effects driven production of Alien Encounter was held on weekends at the Titmouse Warehouse in Hollywood. Their advertising stated that “audiences will be covered in blood, dress accordingly.” (Images Wikimedia)

1997: John Denver Dies in an Aircraft Accident

Known for such hits as “Rocky Mountain High” and “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” country singer John Denver was no longer recording new material by the 1990’s, at least not with any large popularity. However, by this time he had become a movie star, political activist and an accomplished private pilot. On this day in 1997, Denver flew an aircraft that he wasn’t familiar with and apparently lost control of the aircraft leading to his fatal crash over Monterey Bay.

1979: A Hitchhiker Goes to the Galaxy

Written by Douglas Adams, A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was published in London on this day in 1979. The comedy sci-fi novel was the first of five books written by Adams and was based on the author’s radio series of the same name.

The story is about Arthur Dent, the only human to live through the destruction of the planet Earth by hitching a ride on a spaceship. A six-episode TV series was created in 1981 (using the main cast from the radio series) followed much later by a film adaptation in 2005. In 2009, a sixth book, And Another Thing… was written by Eoin Colfer.

1986: The World’s Longest Show Closes

On July 13, 1955, The Golden Horseshoe Saloon of Frontierland was opened three days before Disneyland opened to host Walt and Lillian Disney’s 30th wedding anniversary. Then, on opening day, the premiere of the original Golden Horseshoe Revue began its legendary run of 39,000 performances.

The show has been listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest-running stage musical of all time. The first shows starred Wally Boag (as Pecos Bill), Betty Taylor (as Slue Foot Sue) and Donald Novis. In 1962, Walt Disney’s The Wonderful World of Color celebrated the show’s 10,000th performance with a special that included the original cast and guest stars, Annette Funicello, Ed Wynn, Gene Sheldon and Walt Disney himself.

The saloon has never offered alcohol to the general public and was sponsored by Pepsi until 1982 when Coca-Cola took over. While the saloon is still standing and shows are still regularly presented there, the original revue closed down for good on this day in 1986.