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8/29/06 Update
A few updates to the original post:
- Updated/Corrected Detailed Description based off a further reports of the test run.
Figment! aka Jason ºoº
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Epcot Visitors Get into Game to Solve Kim Possible Mystery
Scott Powers | Sentinel Staff Writer
September 6, 2006
Those mild-mannered shopkeepers and their well-tended establishments at Epcot's United Kingdom Pavilion are now embroiled in a world of secret agents, mystery, and an evil plot to turn the whole world into one giant golf course.
So that explains what those kids, Ellen and Faye Meadows, were doing crammed in a phone booth playing with cell phones. Was that a golf ball that just popped out of the pay phone's change return? A clue!
Sleepy little areas in Epcot's World Showcase are coming alive with high-tech intrigue, as young heroes such as Ellen, 9, and Faye, 7, of Hemel Hempstead, England, run around trying to save the world, playing a prototype, high-tech, adventure game that Disney researchers are testing.
Ellen, Faye and others are on missions to help the cartoon character Kim Possible and her friends save the world. At the same time, they're helping Walt Disney Imagineering's research and development department explore possibilities for using the latest generation of interactive, hand-held technologies in theme-park environments.
Every weekday for another week or so, up to 100 selected visitors at Epcot are being handed specially programmed cell phones with global-positioning-system chips. Video, audio and text messages direct the participants to places, then activate special effects when they arrive, as they try to solve the mystery.
Disney Imagineering's research and development team is watching closely, first to see if the game is a hit, and what should be done to make it a permanent attraction someday. But more significantly, the researchers want to see how such technologies might be woven into new or enhanced Disney experiences without disrupting normal operations. The U.K. Pavilion, for example, cannot devolve into being just a game set.
If and when the game returns, it might cost extra. Disney officials say it is too soon to talk about whether visitors would be charged for the experience. But it's similar in nature to the Segway transporter attraction that Disney offers at Epcot. People can sign up for lessons on how to ride the two-wheeled scooters, then tour World Showcase before it opens, for $80 a person.
Bruce Vaughn, vice president for research and development at Walt Disney Imagineering, Disney's creative branch, envisions similar technology going into games or other activities that could be used not just in the parks, but at hotels, Disney Cruise Line ships and other places. In addition to games, Vaughn sees prospects for everything from concierge services to interactive guided tours.
Who better to try out such gadgets first than the people most likely to know how to use them -- kids?
"This new generation is growing up with the Internet, cell phones, mobile devices, hand-held devices, video games. This younger generation, I would say 20 and under, have a whole different idea about how to consume entertainment, how they can be involved in entertainment," Vaughn said. "That same generation, when they come to the park and we hand them a Kimmunicator and say, 'Go out and interact in the park as a secret agent and save the world,' they totally get it."
In the current test, which runs though Sept. 15, participants follow leads, collect clues and eventually try to help Kim Possible -- the main character of the Disney Channel adventure cartoon -- defeat the dastardly Dr. Drakken.
Ellen and Faye played the U.K. Pavilion version -- there's also a France Pavilion version -- while their parents, Julian and Sarah Meadows, relaxed nearby at an outdoor table of the Rose & Crown Pub. Faye, a big fan of the Kim Possible show, said she knew from the start that she would love the game. Much older and worldly Ellen wasn't so sure, until she started playing.
"I really want to continue now; I don't know why I almost turned it down," Ellen said, just before she and Faye rushed off to find another clue in the teashop.
"It's very interesting, they're trying to come up with new ideas, a new kind of entertainment, I think. It's fantastic," said Julian Meadows, an antique-furniture restorer. "It gets the children so involved. And I can sit here with my Guinness and I'm sure that they're safe."
The phones and GPS chips are not the only technologies involved. Lasers, talking puppets, audio and video special effects and other devices, all activated by the phones, move the story along toward a big finale in the bonus round. At least one professional actor is involved, and some of those shopkeepers must play along. There also is a chance for participants to communicate with one another to seek help. And it's not just for children; adults are playing, too.
After the test runs its course, Vaughn's staff will take all the surveys and observations they've collected back to the labs to figure out what to do next. It might be a year or more before the devices re-emerge for good. Regardless, it's clear to Vaughn that the time has come for personal digital devices to become part of the theme park fun.
"We believe this kind of device, with [software] overlays, we can make it appropriately for any age," Vaughn said.
Team Possible Photo Gallery
[Do Note: the photo gallery displays guests actually playing the game and reveals some game elements]
Figment! aka Jason ºoº
INTERCOT STAFF
News, Rumours & Imagineering
Dining
Vacations Beyond Disney
~It’s what us storytellers do; we restore order with imagination, we instill hope again and again~
~We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things~
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It looks interesting to me.
Seth
WDW at least 13 Times Since 1972!
DLR to many times to count (used to go every weekend when I lived in CA)Next scheduled trips:August 2006-WDW
October of 2005-DLR for the 50th!
Gwarsh
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We did the Team Possible adventure last week at the World. It was just awesome! My DD-8 loved every minute of it, and DH and I think that it was the best part of our trip! It was fabulous, the effects were great, and you got to really explore France and UK. I can't say enough good things about it!
Heather aka ibelieveindisneymagic
INTERCOT Staff
Engaged at the castle!
My Disney Home is POFQ
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Sounds cool to me. I think our kids would enjoy it.
Steve (aka brownie)
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Thanks Jason!
ºoº David, Lisa, Aaron and Allison
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I really hope they bring this back!!! I'd do it in a second I love scavenger hunts!! Plus I love KP.
Upcoming trips to DL Hojo's Oct 19-25 and Pop Cen Dec 30 09-Jan 06 10
Pop Cen, Wilderness L, Disney Wonder, Coronado Spr Mar 8-16 09
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We didn't participate last year, as DD was not really in to Kim Possible yet, but we did see several other kids who really seemed to be enjoying it. DD9 is now a Kim Possible nut, so this would be right up her alley.
Here's hoping it's up and running by December
Daytrip 2001
HI FamilySuites (now Nick Hotel) 2003
POR - 2005
WL 2006, 2007
Cabins 2008
Jan. '10 DS turns 5 - quick trip with Mommy at ASMo
June '10 Grand Gathering at the Cabins
Fall '11 POP last minute surprise
Summer 2012 Beach Club and Cars Art of Animation
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I hope they do bring it back. We got to participate last August and my girls LOVED it. There were so many neat aspects to it. The already love Epcot, but this was a highlight of the trip.
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