It's funny that so many MMDers have no opinion of automatic music in
Disneyland, but its a very important part of the history of automatic
music. I have a season pass at Disneyland. I go every week. I visit
the Penny Arcade next to the coffee house. I usually get a cappuccino
at the coffee house which is amazing, and better than Starbucks!
I walk around in the Ice Cream Parlor next door, into the Penny Arcade.
There sits the Welte Style 4 orchestrion. I pause to take it in. Next
I glance around at the cheesy games that Disney has installed, along
with a few fabulous Edison Kinetoscopes. Most of the little games are
trivial and not important to me, compared to the fabulous Welte Style 4.
Okay, put in some money and select a tune. The Welte poorly and mildly
squeaks out a tune with only one or two ranks playing. I feel like
I have been gypped.
Disappointed and rejected, I go to Main Street Station to hear the Nelson
Wiggen Style 6 orchestrion. I find that it does not accept money and it
is out of order. I talk to the staff and they say "We hate that thing!"
So, once again, automatic music is dead and gone in Disneyland, unless
they can come up with a way that will blow away the present audience.
Brian Smith (Disneyland annual Pass-holder)
Redlands, California
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