Music Blogs

As many of you know, I am in Disney World with my family this week, so the playlists have been very Disney-centric. I am living and breathing Walt Disney World, so most of the ideas I’ve had in the last few days are directly influenced by my time here. Aerosmith is in the news again for their foray into the video game market with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, but they also have their own rollercoaster located at Disney World's Hollywood (formerly MGM) studios in Orlando, Florida. 

This list is comprised of songs by bands that I’ve noticed on the Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster attraction. Specifically, bands that appear on concert posters you will see in the ride queue. I wish I had the foresight to bring along paper and a pen as I could have captured them all, but alas I did not. So this playlist is composed of only the bands I can remember. I hear that Disney changes them out regularly, so a complete list may be impossible. The Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster is one of the top rides I have been on so far this week. It’s an indoor coaster, stars Aerosmith and was open to the public in July, 1999. For you coaster heads out there, it’s a tubular coaster designed by WDI, does 0 to 60 in 2.8 second, and includes one 360, one cobra roll and one corkscrew.

The ride is built upon rock music, which is not only obvious from the name itself, but from every detail of the experience. When you enter the Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster plaza you are greeted by an upside down classic 50’s car afixed to a guitar and suspended by a series of metal tubes that have lights placed in a pattern that resembles musical notes, and on the front of the building is a massive, 40-foot Fender Stratocaster guitar. If you’ve not been to Disney World, one thing that separates them from most is the amount of money and effort put into the details. It’s not just the rides that makes the experience great, but also the environment that Disney creates. Although sometimes it can be a bit hokey, Disney wait queues can be exceptional. For this coaster, the line winds through a bunch of rooms that resemble a recording studio called G-Force Records, (get it?), and it’s patterened after the RKO Path studio building in Hollywood, CA. In the “studio’s” waiting area you are presented with display cases that show the history of recorded music. Vinyl, cassettes, 8-tracks and various antique playback devices are behind the glass. As you move forward through the halls, the walls are adorned with classic concert posters mostly from the 60’s and 70’s. These posters were the inspiration for this playlist. You’ll pass by some studio doors that have flashing red “RECORDING IN PROCESS” signs until you finally come to the main studio where Aerosmith is mixing down “Sweet Emotion“. The band speaks directly to the audience and it is done with some sort of video technology, but has a 3-D effect almost like a hologram. Pretty cool, and if it wasn’t for Aerosmith’s pathetic acting abilities, it might have been convincing too.

I won’t go through the details of the band’s spiel, but suffice to say, the band has to get to a show and feels bad that they’re leaving so soon. The band’s manager (played by Ileana Douglas) gets you backstage passes and a “super-stretch” limo to the show. The limo is of course, the coaster itself. When you leave the studio you enter a back alley where the “limos” are picking up riders and spinning them off into the darkness complete with screeching tire effects. The alley has details like band flyers stapled to telephone poles and muffled rock music seeping through nightclub back doors. Just looking at everything Disney has done to make the experience complete is a delight, but when you finally get into the coaster, which is made to resemble a 1959 Cadillac, the real fun begins. The music blasts through a 32,000 watt onboard audio system and each limo plays a different Aerosmith track, including “Dude (Looks Like a Lady)“, “Walk this Way“, “Love in an Elevator“, “Sweet Emotion“, “Young Lust“, “Back in the Saddle” and “Nine Lives“. This playlist ends with a live version of Sweet Emotion from the album A Little South of Sanity, as the “Thank You Good Night” heard when getting off the ride, comes from the end of this track. The high speed launch will take your breath away, it accelerates to 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds! After that, the ride is mostly dark, so you don’t know what’s going to happen next. The first loop hits you with a G-force of between 4 and 5 and doesn’t let up for over 3 minutes. I was screaming like a frightened little schoolgirl for half of it. A nice German man in line told me that Expedition Everest is better, so hopefully I will get to try it before I leave.

The Disney World Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Playlist

1. “Livin’ On The Edge“ - Aerosmith 
2. “Kick Out The Jams“ - MC5 
3. “Crosstown Traffic“ - Jimi Hendrix   
4. “Riders On The Storm“ - The Doors     
5. “Who Are You“ - The Who     
6. “Jungle Love“ - Steve Miller Band  
7. “Magic Carpet Ride“ - Steppenwolf   
8. “Uncle John’s Band“ - The Grateful Dead     
9. “Who Do You Love“ - Quicksilver Messenger Service  
10. “Mannish Boy“ - Muddy Waters   
11. “The Thrill Is Gone“ - B.B. King 
12. “Somebody To Love“ - Jefferson Airplane  
13. “Eight Miles High“ - The Byrds     
14. “For Your Love“ - The Yardbirds   
15. “Personality Crisis“ - New York Dolls 
16. “Piece Of My Heart“ - Janis Joplin    
17. “Bohemian Rhapsody“ - Queen   
18. “Badge“ - Cream   
19. “Sweet Emotion“ - Aerosmith