Papercraft artist Matt Hawkins created this wonderful sculpture as tribute to Pixar’s terrific movie ‘Up’. It’s one of the many amazing pieces of artwork that will be available at the grand opening events on Saturday June 9th for the new WonderGround Gallery at Disneyland’s Downtown… Read More »WonderGround Art Gallery Opening Event on June 9th at Downtown Disney Anaheim
The LA Times wonders if the changes to the entrance to the park and the addition of Cars Land to Disney California Adventure will be enough to elevate the park to a full day experience. There’s a lot of room for improvement: In 2010, California… Read More »Will Cars Land Elevate DCA Enough
There has always been a cross-town rivalry between Walt Disney’s theme parks and Universal Studios’ attractions. When Walt Disney opened Disneyland in Anaheim, Universal Studios had already been offering studio tours at it’s Hollywood park for decades. When Universal Studios decided to build in Orlando,… Read More »Battle between Disney and Universal Catches Eye of New York Times
I don’t know about you, but if I lived in California, I would be jumping for those D23 tickets to go do a Carsland and Buena Vista Street walk-through before the official opening on, everyone together now, JUNE 15th! But, alas, I am in Florida, recapping the past ten years of DCA for you to enjoy before that lovely June day. Today, we will talk about the 2 now deceased (maybe not the best word choice…) parades that ran up and down the Performance Corridor for years. No, I’m not kidding, it was called the Performance Corridor instead of a Parade Route…oh DCA.
First up, we have the infamous “Eureka”. Named after the state motto, it was also the name of the deity that was represented on each of the floats, dressed as to reflect certain regions of California. She was in the sun logo, Hispanic California, an angel from “The City of Angels,” Beach-Loving Beauty, Chinese woman of Chinatown, and the Golden Goddess representing the Golden State. With each float came its respectable share of interesting costumes (A man dressed as the Hollywood Bowl, two men on stilts as the Golden Gate Bridge, etc.). In addition to the odd costume choices, the float performers were really cool, with the beach/surfing float containing a skateboarding half-pipe being used and the City of Angels section having drummers hanging off the side of float.
Though it did gain a small cult following among some Disney fans, it ultimately was not successful (Shocking!) at DCA. The problem? It had no Disney Characters. Not even Mickey. Though “Tapestry of Nations” at Epcot had no characters and was very popular, this parade had a very hectic and discombobulated feel to it that off put some, unlike “Tapestry”. It opened with the park in Feb. 2001, closed for the off-season, returned for the Summer of 2002, and never ran again.
After the park became such a folly for Disney and the crowd numbers weren’t what they were expecting, they needed something to pull the people in and fast. The solution? “Disney’s Electrical Parade”.
Finally things are starting look right at Disneyland. That empty window next to Marc Davis’ has its pairing. Disneyland has honored Alice Davis with her own window on Main Street USA at Disneyland which serve as the ‘credits’ to the full experience of the park. There ceremony was star studded as far as Disneyland luminaries go.
Alice Davis was inducted as a Disney Legend in 2004 and is known for her work on the costumes for “it’s a small world” and “Pirates Of the Caribbean,” however, her accomplishments also include live action films, developing WDI standards, and is a brilliant artist and imagineer in her own right.
I’ve been writing about the need to correct this injustice since at least 1999. I mentioned the lack of windows for Alice Davis and Mary Blair in the 2nd month of this blog and later added in Lillian Disney as another major oversight. Davis joins Harriet Burns, Cicely Rigdon, and Mary Anne Mang as the fourth woman to be honored with a ‘credit’ on Main Street USA at Disneyland. Let’s hope that number quickly rises to six and higher as the company finally starts to recognize the contributions made by women in their cast, not just the men.
A full video of the ceremony is available below the cut:
Read More »Alice Davis finally gets her Window on Main Street at Disneyland
If you’ve read this blog, or my writings at LaughingPlace.com, for any length of time then you know that I have been critical of the weak effort Disney put forth to build a second gate to compliment the original theme park, and the only Disney… Read More »Hopeful thoughts about California Adventure Re-envisioning
From “Mad T Party” to the “Red Car News Boys,” a new lineup of characters and shows will offer something for everyone as they celebrate the grand re-opening of the California Adventure with the new Cars Land, Buena Vista Street and Carthay Circle Theatre, featuring a restaurant and lounge.
The new lands will be home for new characters and street performers, while “Pixar Play Parade” will return for twice-daily performances throughout the summer and the long-running hit “Disney’s Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular” is expected to add extra performances. The nighttime spectacular “World of Color” continues to satisfy guests with fire, water, lasers, animation and new story elements.
Read More »Disney California Adventure Adds New Entertainment to Fuel Cars Land & Buena Vista Street
Imagineers at Disneyland take us behind the walls at Disneyland’s classic Matterhorn roller coaster to show what’s been going on since it went down toward the beginning of this year. The refurbishment has been fairly extensive with new safety railings and a lot of work… Read More »The Matterhorn’s Fresh Coat of Snow – Behind the Scenes