With the major changes at Disney California Adventure due to roll out, the Disneyland Resort is expecting major crowds this summer. That said, it’s always a good idea to tell people that there’s something new to see. With that in mind, Disney has rolled out… Read More »Buzz Lightyear Themed Commercials for Disneyland
Earlier this week, runDisney made another exciting announcement, this time revealing the course for the Disneyland Half Marathon to be held on September 2, 2012. Although the majority of the course remains unchanged from years previous, there is an exciting new turn early on that… Read More »Disneyland sets New 2012 Half-Marathon Course
At Disneyland, Merida has set up camp across from “it’s a small world.” At the Magic Kingdom, Merida is located on the edge of Fantasyland to the right of Cinderella Castle (as you face it from the hub). Both feature an animatronic trio of bear… Read More »Meeting Merida
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”.
While the Magic Kingdom’s is getting an expanded Fantasyland, it’s not the first version of Fantasyland to get an upgrade. In 1983 Disneyland’s Fantasyland went from Medieval Festival to the more Medieval City setting we have now.
To help make the public aware of the changes Disneyland produced a TV special that starred the late Heather O’Rourke (Poltergeist) and also the late comedian Morey Amsterdam.
Thankfully YouTube user PokeyVision has preserved the 1 hour special. The story is a bit lite, but it works as a big commercial for the new Fantasyland giving audiences a sneak peak into the new attractions.
I vaguely remember seeing this on TV (how could you forget Morey Amsterdam’s outfit). If you want to see more of the show, it’s below the jump. It gets pretty weird down in Part 4:
In this video, Disney treats us to a behind the scenes glimpse into the recording studio with Bill Cantos. Cantos is the music arranger of all the tunes that you’ll hear in the new Carthay Circle Restaurant in Disney California Adventure. His task was to… Read More »Composing the Music of Carthay Circle Restaurant at Disney California Adventure
Nearly three years ago, Disney fans and comic book geeks alike did double takes as they looked at the latest news: Disney bought Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. While this was less than Disney spent for PIXAR, there were no previous projects between Disney and… Read More »Three Years Later: A Look at Disney’s Acquisition of Marvel