The Power of An Overlay

7:49 AM. I’m through the gates. I’m at Plaza Inn. There’s about 30 people in front of me waiting at the rope. I estimate a 10 minute wait for Hyperspace Mountain.

8:00. The rope drops. The 30 people magically become about 300 - and they can’t funnel through the small area. I’m smart. I’ll go around. 5 minute wait estimate.

8:02. Space Mountain  in sight. Sign says 15 minutes... Single Rider sign is up. Ha! I’ll take that risk. Estimated wait time: 2 minutes.

8:03. “Do you know if single rider is open?” “Beats me, We’re not even open yet.” (Yes you are man. I’m literally here in front of you, clearly you are open.) Estimated wait time: 25 minutes.

8:04. Return to main queue. Sign says 25 minutes. Back of line not in sight. I’m squeezing back in. I was here first. Season of the Force myself back into line begins. Sign says 35 minutes.

8:06 Two brave souls try single rider again. I’m not waiting 35 minutes. (And I feel bad for jumping back into line. I follow them.

8:07 “Single rider will open shortly. You’ll have to wait here.”

8:07:05 “Single rider is open.” (Shortly indeed.) Estimated wait time: 10 minutes.

8:12 I’m on. Cue John Williams. Let the ride begin!

8:17 I’m out. Sign says 55 minutes.

55 minutes? For Space Mountain? 17 minutes after park opening? That’s unheard of!

That’s the power of an overlay.

Over the last couple decades, Disney has become the master of the overlay. In part due to the limited size of the Disneyland Resort (compared to Walt Disney World) and in part to save money, they’ve used this technique more and more. They take an existing attraction, give it a new coat of paint, a tweaked, or completely new storyline and/or a new soundtrack. With a far smaller budget, and no need for new space -  they often create the same buzz as if they’d released an entirely new attraction.

What started with the relatively minor Christmas overlay for It’s a Small World has morphed to the much more complex Nightmare Before Christmas makeover for the Haunted Mansion which used to run only a short time and now seems to run nearly half the year. Soarin’ Over California became Soarin’ Over the World - and now goes back for a “limited” run each year which is always ridiculously popular. Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout becomes Monsters Unleashed for Halloween. Even Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree gets in on the fun becoming the Jingle Jamboree for Christmas.

And, of course, Space Mountain becomes Hyperspace Mountain for the far-too-short Season of the Force. Space Mountain often has a hefty wait time (as well it should as one of the two best attractions in Disneyland) but when the Hyperspace overlay is on, it often runs a solid 30% longer. For reference, it is 6:30 on a Thursday evening as I write this, and the wait sits at 80 minutes - far highest in the park. The rest of the park is relatively light with even Rise of the Resistance running at 45 minute wait. Even the usually longest-wait-in-the-entire-resort Radiators Spring Racers at Disney California Adventure is at 70 minutes.

Space Mountain, in its standard form, is a roller coaster in the dark. About the only thing you see after some strange spinning lights in the lift tunnels are specks of white representing stars in space. It also has music that plays that, frankly, has nothing to do with space travel except for the countdown at the top of the 2nd lift hill. This description is not meant to denigrate the attraction. I love it - and so do millions of others. 

The Hyperspace overlay, though, takes it to an entirely new level. The Star Wars theme, with that iconic first note as the ride begins, blares into the darkness. That spinning blue lift tunnel now has streaking white light trails, just like when they jump to lightspeed in the Star Wars movies. When you exit the tunnel and turn to the 2nd lift hill, you see a projection of an Imperial Star Cruiser, just like in the opening shot of A New Hope. Admiral Ackbar frantically warns you that you are being pulled in by its tractor beam (giving a story to why there is a second lift hill - you’re being pulled up to it.) At the peak of the hill, he says you’ve broken free and must now escape kicking off the speeding drops and turns of the rest of the attraction. 

You continue to hear the whirring of starships passing by in the dark, until finally near the end you start to see them. They are literally just LCD monitors with images on them. In the dark of the ride, they look like they are flying right alongside you - and one at least right above you! Lastly, iconic red and green lasers zoom by you as you fly through the space battle and the ride quickly slows to a close. 

The core attraction, which has an extremely limited story (you’re flying in space) becomes a completely different, story-driven experience thanks to this overlay. It all happens within the same space (same building, same ride cars, same track, same queue line, etc) as the original attraction. 

What does this have to do with us as educators? Well, I don’t know about you, but I have a very limited budget and no space to build new attractions in my classroom. (Okay, I do know about you - you’re in the same boat.)

So, how do we do an overlay? When I started my China unit, I wanted it to feel different in the classroom. I bought a cheap (like $7 cheap) Lunar New Year decoration pack on Amazon. It came with some paper lanterns and a paper dragon.  I bought some magnetic hooks (which will be perfect for future overlays) and hung the lanterns from my classroom ceiling. I hung the dragon across the ceiling in the front of the room. Those decorations alone made the room feel very different, but I also set my various LED lights to red and yellow to add more to the ambience.

I finished the overlay by (somewhat poorly) recreating the Chinese flag on my light curtain. I wrote about this device awhile ago, and I still can’t say enough good about it. It is so easy to change the feel of the room with it, that I can’t imagine not having one at this point. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m going to put in a second one next year. Govee has added an AI design feature that is helpful as well. Earlier, this year, I told it I wanted to show Florence Cathedral and, after a couple attempts, it did an admirable job. It would not, however, generate the Chinese flag for whatever reason. So, I made it myself. It wasn’t great, but the students immediately knew what it was supposed to be - and that’s all that really matters.

And I guess what REALLY matters is that it worked. After walking in, I had multiple students say out loud how excited they were to learn about China. 

I’m not sure they would have waited 80 minutes for it, but the overlay definitely increased interest!

For my next unit, I didn’t go as far. First, I took down the China overlay. That may seem obvious, but one of the awesome things about an overlay is that removing it makes for another “new” experience. As much as Soarin’ Over California is fun to see for its limited run each year, I know that as soon as it flips back to Over the World, I’ll be eager to get back in line - just as I will be for Space Mountain when the Hyperspace overlay is removed. Sometimes, you don’t know what you got until it's gone. So, lanterns and dragons down.

I then put up two large, framed movie-theater-sized posters I have of Japan from an art event my mom did years ago. They are just blown up photos of modern Japan. I changed the Chinese Flag on my light curtain to the Japanese one. I put on some Japanese music (I used a theme song to an anime) and bam, a whole new world. (Wait, that’s Arabia… my next unit - sweet, I have an overlay idea!) It honestly wasn’t much, but it felt different. The students noticed immediately that the lanterns and dragon were gone. They saw that the red glow of the Chinese flag was gone, replaced by the softer white of the Japanese one. 

And of course, as one filter-limited boy showed by loudly asking about the music; “IS THIS FROM AN ANIME OR SOMETHING?” they heard the music change.

For my next unit, I didn’t go as far. First, I took down the China overlay. That may seem obvious, but one of the awesome things about an overlay is that removing it makes for another “new” experience. As much as Soarin’ Over California is fun to see for its limited run each year, I know that as soon as it flips back to Over the World, I’ll be eager to get back in line - just as I will be for Space Mountain when the Hyperspace overlay is removed. Sometimes, you don’t know what you got until it's gone. So, lanterns and dragons down.

I then put up two large, framed movie-theater-sized posters I have of Japan from an art event my mom did years ago. They are just blown up photos of modern Japan. I changed the Chinese Flag on my light curtain to the Japanese one. I put on some Japanese music (I used a theme song to an anime) and bam, a whole new world. (Wait, that’s Arabia… my next unit - sweet, I have an overlay idea!) It honestly wasn’t much, but it felt different. The students noticed immediately that the lanterns and dragon were gone. They saw that the red glow of the Chinese flag was gone, replaced by the softer white of the Japanese one. 

And of course, as one filter-limited boy showed by loudly asking about the music; “IS THIS FROM AN ANIME OR SOMETHING?” they heard the music change.

The overlay, simple as it was, worked.

I hope your takeaway here is, as mine was, that visuals and novelty matter. Especially at this late stage of the year, the classroom experience tends to drag. Routine has set in, and we're all at least somewhat looking toward the end - sounds like the perfect time for an overlay! What can you do to overlay your classroom for your next unit? New music? New lighting? New Slideshow themes? New storyline? (If you're stuck, ask ChatGPT what decorations might bring the topic to life.)

You can do it in your existing space, and on a limited budget. So, get out there and build up those 80 minute waits!