28 November 2009

Got Photograph. Lost Phillips.

When scrutinizing how an attraction best relays its theme to guests, more often than not the conversation begins and ends with the level of detail provided in the queue. The now shuttered Adventurers Club never had an actual queue, but venturing room to room throughout the establishment finds layer upon layer of story that could make even the most thorough attraction queue green with envy.The tales of Merriweather Pleasure’s exploits and adventures have been told far and wide, but photographs of the expeditions and his cohorts excursions could only be found within the Adventurers Club. On one bulletin board featuring a map of Asia, a hotbed of adventuring in the early part of the 20th Century, several photographs can be seen from various journeys. While the inscription on each photograph does not present the entire account of their adventures, they do give us a glimpse into the world of adventuring and make guests wonder what happened next.

Quotes from these photographs include a truck stuck in deep sand stating, “ So Merriweather! As you can see the automobile will never replace the camel as a vehicle of expedition. I told you so. – P. Mercury,” as well as a vessel of the sea being toss and turned by turbulent waters with the note, “Got photograph. Lost Phillips. More Later, Louis.”

These types of photographs, found throughout the Adventurers Club are just one of the innumerable elements that made the club one of the most immersive experiences on Walt Disney World property. Personally, I just wonder what ever happened to poor Phillips?

3 comments:

Greg said...

My wife and I have a room in our house that we call the Adventurers Room. It is where we have most of the things we collected while we lived in Europe, travelled to Africa, etc. It is inspired by the AC, but in no way, approaches the scale. Although I have started putting a few more photographs on the wall.

Princess Fee said...

Great post, Ryan! It must surely be only a matter of time before a book dedicated to the details of the Adventurer's Club is published. Perhaps by yourself, Ryan? ;)

Ryan P. Wilson said...

Doc - One of these days I am going to have to make the trek to see your Adventurers Club personally!

Princess - I wish! I have a lot, but I think there are probably some collections of AC history more detailed than mine. Although, with some arm twisting, I'm sure I could be persuaded!