One Floridian's dream: a Ukrainian showcase at Disney World (12/17/95)

One Floridian's dream: a Ukrainian showcase at Disney World

by Christopher Guly

OTTAWA - First came the giant pysanka at Vegreville, Alberta. Then the hulking mosquito at Komarno, Manitoba. Now, some enterprising Floridians are vying to outdo their Ukrainian Canadian innovators and build a Kozak roller coaster ride at Disney World.

Taras Harper hopes that, one day soon, the 40,000 daily visitors to Disney's EPCOT Center will be able to wander around a Ukrainian pavilion, which would become Disney's 12th international center. Much like the Norwegian pavilion's alpine ride, which includes mechanical "animatronic" forest elves scaring passengers on the dip down, the Ukrainian pavilion will feature a roller coaster titled "The Ride of the Kozaks."

Mr. Harper, 28, who works as an instructor for the Disney Institute's television and video program in Orlando, says the ride is intended to provide a history of Ukraine. Like Norway's, Ukraine's will have animated characters, but their's will be tough Kozaks, not shrinking elves. "The Kozaks will ride along with the passengers when the roller coaster is moving at a slow pace," he explains.

The pavilion will also feature a dine-in restaurant and a take-out food stand, both of which will offer hungry visitors the choice between such fare as varenyky, holubtsi and quasi-American delicacies such as the "Baba burger." An onion-domed church, replicas of the mighty Carpathian Mountains and three gift shops, which will sell crystal, pysanky and woodcarvings, will round out the $10-million-plus exhibition.

Sounds like a great idea. The only problem is that Disney has yet to give Mr. Harper, one of its employees for the past six years, the green light to commence.

It's certainly not a case of the Boston-born Mr. Harper, who serves as the co-founding president of the Ukrainian Project Fund (UPF), being short on enthusiasm. He has already begun to promote the pavilion project on the Internet and plans to hold a fund-raising benefit next April featuring Winnipeg's Rusalka Dance Ensemble.

Beyond pushing for Disney-styled, roller coaster Kozaks, Mr. Harper and the UPF are also in negotiation with a major corporation to develop a satellite program called, "News from Ukraine." The four-year-old fund also remains active in sending shipments of medical supplies to Ukraine three times a year.

Other projects in the works include "Satellite Social Studies," a potential joint project with AT&T, which would link 100 Canadian and American classrooms with their Ukrainian counterparts through state-of-the-art video conferencing technology. Another is a massive advertising campaign to promote tourism to Ukraine.

"There are a lot of wonderful beaches, ski resorts and beautiful architectural attractions in Ukraine that no one knows about," said Mr. Harper.

Another project is a Ukrainian-language educational children's program called "The Play Yard," which will feature puppets performing in traditional Ukrainian apartment play yards.

Since Mr. Harper's background includes television production, it's not surprising he also plans a Ukrainian sitcom, "Shcho Novoho?" ("What's New?"), which will present a day in the life of a Ukrainian family who have recently joined their sister to live in the United States. UT-3 in Kyiv has already signed an agreement to produce a full 13-episode series, with production expected to commence in late 1996.

But much like the pavilion concept, good ideas need "hroshi." So Mr. Harper, who already has a pilot episode of the series in the can, is trying to raise funds. He's chosen to do it Ukrainian-style: a raffle.

In April, four four-day passes to Disney World, a Sony Walkman (thanks to Donna Yarus, Sony's VIP pavilion manager at Disney/MGM Studios), and an autographed script of the 1991 film, "City Slickers" (courtesy of another UPF board member and Oscar-winning star of the motion picture, Jack Palace, aka Vladimir Palaniuk), will go to lucky winners.

The trouble is, getting people in the Sunshine State to actually sell the tickets is a project in itself. Ukrainian Floridians, like their southern Californian colleagues, spend a great deal of time in their cars.

"When I grew up in Ambridge, Pa., all the Ukrainians in town were able to walk to the local Ukrainian club," reminisces Paul Galadza, a 42-year-old executive chef who was lived in Miami for 20 years. "Now it takes between 25 and 45 minutes to get anywhere."

But Florida's Ukrainian community, which is estimated at close to 50,000 people, has seemed to handle its half century of adjustment reasonably well. They have churches and clubs, and an active 36-member dance troupe, the Ukrainian Dancers of Miami. Former Radio City Music Hall diva, Winnipeg-born Olga Pavlova, who directs a Ukrainian choir, Veselka, lives in Coral Gables.

But Ukrainian Floridians don't have animated Kozaks, something Mr. Harper desperately wants them to enjoy. All he needs now is some cash, and maybe one more idea.

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