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News and Views
The Birthday Debrief
All-in-all, it turned out to be a pretty nice day for guests at Disneyland on the 50th Anniversary. While some may have been disappointed that it wasn’t a huge blow-out affair, many appreciated a chance to just hang out at Disneyland on an historically important day without a lot of stress about making sure to be in the right place at the right time.
For a while we were worried we erred in our assurances last week that it wasn’t necessary to line up at 3:00 in the morning to ensure entry into the park. 25,000 people standing in line looks like a lot of people, but fortunately it wasn’t a harbinger of things to come. It turned out that most of the people who wanted to be there showed up early, with a light flow of people showing up after the gates opened wide at 8:15. After all the concern about gate closures and reentry, they never stopped selling tickets nor closed the gates, and the park never felt as crowded as it does on major holidays such as New Year’s Eve and the Fourth of July.
With no special evening activities, the crowd started to thin after the 4:45 presentation of Walt Disney’s original dedication speech and throughout the evening most lines were comfortably short (the stand-by wait for Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters was 25 minutes at 8:45 p.m. and Jungle Cruise was 10 minutes at 11 p.m.). It also helped the evening crowd that so many people had been up so early (if not all night) and that Monday was a work day for most. Not many pulled off the feat of getting in line for Disneyland inside Disney’s California Adventure and staying until Disneyland closed at midnight. On returning to the Pumbaa parking lot (where early arrivers parked) at midnight, only 60 to 70 cars remained.
The golden mouse-eared birthday hats given out to each guest lasted until after 10 p.m. (unfortunately some received multiple hats by exiting and re-entering; one MousePlanet staffer entered the park three times on Sunday and was offered a hat each time). If all 100,000 birthday cupcakes were handed out it was not until near park closing. Distribution of the cupcakes was mostly without hassle (you had to go to a foods location to get one… or a dozen); on the other hand, we didn’t meet many people who completely liked them with the amount of icing on each being the most common complaint. It’s hard to complain too much about free cupcakes, though.
For attendees of the 50th Anniversary merchandise event, Sunday morning capped off the event with an early breakfast inside the park (which required that they gather at 5 a.m.). Despite the concerns of many before the event about attendance and itinerary changes, almost everybody was happy with the actual execution, particularly with a party held Saturday night. Those who did have issues weren’t so much upset with the execution as they felt that not enough was done to differentiate the $1,955 Walt’s Dream package with the lower-priced packages.
A very nice touch was that the large Jumbotron-type displays erected around the park were not left dark all day following the 10 a.m. ceremony. Throughout the day, the displays alternated between replaying the ceremony and vintage footage of Disneyland. Even the most die-hard of Disney fans were heard to say they’d seen something new. One touching site was leaving the park at the end of the day and finding the sidewalks of Town Square filled with people just relaxing and watching one of these displays.
Park guests take one last look at the presentation on the Main Street Jumbotron. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
Remember… fire
During the Monday, June 18, performance of the Remember…Dreams Come True fireworks show, a small fire broke out between Sleeping Beauty Castle and the Alice in Wonderland attraction. The flames were clearly visible to guests watching the fireworks from right in front of the castle and the flames appeared to reach a height of 15 or 20 feet. The flames were out within a minute or two of the show’s conclusion (prompting applause from those aware of it) and guests in the area seemed more concerned about the safety of the structures than for themselves.
We have no word yet on the extent of any damage or whether this will affect future shows.
Continuous Coverage Cleanup
Publishing updates on the fly throughout the weekend is both a great opportunity (isn’t the modern communication age amazing?) and a risk. The tools that allowed us to get the information up did not provide the ability to quickly fix mistakes. Schwarzenegger is not spelled “Schwarzenneger” and astronaut Armstrong’s first name is Neil, not Neal.
An misunderstanding led to two people in a photo from the Hollywood Walk of Fame event on July 14 being identified as Anaheim city councilmen. This offended at least one Angeleno who let us know that the men in the following photo are actually Los Angeles City Councilmen Eric Garcetti and Tom Labonge.
Two Los Angeles city councilmen join Michael Eisner and Robert Iger. Photo by Frank Anzalone.
This photo was broken in the 11:20 a.m. update.
Watching the ceremony from Main Street. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
Finally (for now), in the collection of ceremony photos by Frank Anzalone posted at 12:56 p.m., two photos had mismatched captions and photos. The correct captions were shown, but the wrong photos were included. The correct photos and captions follow.
Madison and Mary, the first guests into the park. Photo by Frank Anzalone.
From left to right: Robert Iger, Arnold Schwarzenneger, Mickey Mouse, Diane Disney Miller, Art Linkletter, and Michael Eisner. Photo by Frank Anzalone.
These have all been corrected in the original updates (link), but for those who don’t want to read them again we wanted to make sure they were clarified.
A new window
A new Main Street window was dedicated in a private ceremony before Disneyland opened Sunday morning. Located on the ground floor just to the left of Main Street Cinema, the window reads:
Open since ’55
Disneyland Casting Agency
”It takes People to Make the Dream Reality”
Walter Elias Disney
Founder & Director Emeritus
While it has Walt’s name on it, it isn’t a tribute to Walt Disney (since he doesn’t need one), but a tribute to all the Disneyland cast members of the last 50 years that made the park what it is.
The new Main Street window, dedicated to all park cast members, is located right next to Main Street Cinema. Photo by Alex Stroup.
Each cast member received some gifts on the 17th and among them was a book titled The Magic Begins with Me. The book concludes with a letter from Jay Rasulo that is worth repeating:
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Every cast member we ran into on Sunday was in good mood and helped keep spirtis high. We’d like to join in thanking each of them for their hard work and their vital role.
Halloween at Disneyland
As we mentioned in the coverage over the weekend, word coming from internal sources is that a Halloween party event is coming to Disney’s California Adventure this October. Matt Ouimet is eager to replicate some of the successful Walt Disney World events like Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and the Food & Wine Festival for California audiences so the only surprise is how quickly it is happening. Disneyland previously had a Halloween event (in 1995 and 1996), called Mickey’s Halloween Treat.
This new event will be held on four dates in October, will be a hard-ticketed event running from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. and is expected to cost $20.
An Evening of Magic
by Shoshana Lewin, staff writer
As the song “Wishes” says: “Make-a-wish and do as dreamers do… and all our wishes will come true.”
As part of the anniversary weekend celebration, The Disney Cruise Line
made a wish come true and kept the Disney Magic cruise ship at
the Port of San Pedro one additional night as it hosted “An Evening
of Magic” on July 16 to benefit The Make-a-Wish Foundation. Visiting
a Disney theme park is the number-one request the 25-year-old organization—which
fulfills the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses—receives
(the first official Make a Wish ever granted was for 7-year-old Frank
Salazar, who wanted to visit Disneyland). The evening kicked off with
a sunset ceremony, where outgoing Disney CEO Michael Eisner presented
a $1.04 million check to Make-A-Wish Foundation of America President and
CEO David Williams (with a little help from Mickey Mouse).
“As the foundation’s largest sponsor, Disney is proud to [play a role] in this extraordinary organization,” Eisner said. “Disneyland knows a thing or two about granting wishes.”
Then Disney CEO-elect Bob Iger surprised Williams when Minnie Mouse
came to the stage with a surprise second check—for another $1 million.
A surprise check for $1,000,00 was presented to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Photo by Shoshana Lewin.
“A wish is very simple idea,” Williams said. “The impact it has on a child and the family is absolutely profound.”
The media, guests, and celebs onboard the Magic witnessed that impact firsthand as they were joined by 30 Make-a-Wish children and their families for events all over the ship. Guests had the chance to meet these children, explore the ship, enjoy some delicious food and wine, dance, mingle with Disney characters and wish they didn’t have to get off the ship.
“I Wish to Have A Dance Party” came alive in Rockin’ Bar D
where pictures of “fulfilled wishes” flashed on the screen and
the Radio Disney street team kept the preteens busy prior to the arrival
of “That’s So Raven” star Raven Simone, who has helped grant
more than 30 wishes. When the actress-singer arrived, she had a friend
with her—12-year-old Ashley Gullap, whose wish was to meet Raven
and attend a red carpet with her. Ashley and Raven took the stage, meeting
fans and signing autographs.
Ashley Gallup signing autographs with Raven Simone. Photo by Shoshana Lewin.
After teaching the crowd how to dance the “Cotton Eye Joe” during the dance party, 14-year-old Travis Flores, whose wish was to be an author, autographed his book, “The Spider Who Never Gave Up,” in the Oceaneer Club. In the background, actress Ming-Na could be seen reading a book about Aladdin and Jasmine to some of the youngest guests (and sounding amazingly like Mulan in the process).
Travis Flores has his wish of being and author and having a book signing. Photo by Shoshana Lewin.
Other events around the ship included an event with Disney Channel animator
Bruce Smith, who with other animators has fulfilled the wishes of children
who want to be animators or become an “animated character” on
a Disney Channel show; extreme shuffleboard with L.A. Kings center Sean
Avery; a Herbie 200 race in the Internet café; showings of the
Disney Magic‘s new musical Twice CharmedExteme Makeover: Home Edition. During
the ice carving, Paul spoke to 8-year-old Make-a-Wish child Becky McDougall,
who had her wish come true when she and her family took a cruise on the
Disney Wonder.
Things were also very cool in the ship’s fine-dining restaurant, Palo,
where Diane Disney Miller (daughter of Walt) and Ashley Parker Snider
(daughter of Fess) offered toasts as guests enjoyed some of the samplings
of their respective family vineyards.
“To 50 years of Disneyland—and this great ship,” said
Disney Miller, who was in attendance with her husband, former Disney President
Ron Miller.
Parker Snider mentioned how beautiful the ship was and that she’s was
thinking of taking her kids on a Disney cruise. She was even more interested
after being told that the kids have their own deck and most of the children
are totally occupied from 8 a.m. to midnight.
“I Wish to Be in a Movie” was the focus of activities in the
Buena Vista Theater, where Kelly Preston talked about her role in the
upcoming Disney film, Sky High. Later in the evening, actress Kathleen
Marshall (Queen Clarise’s assistant, Charlotte, in the Princess Diaries
movies) talked about the work of her father, Garry, and how Make-a-Wish
children were able to come to the sets of Princess Diaries, Freaky
Friday and Raising Helen—where three of the children had
cameo roles. Garry’s assistant Tommy Hines (the shorts-wearing reporter
from the first Princess Diaries) showed scenes from the documentary
he made the day the kids came to the set.
The evening ended with Disney characters on stage with the children. Photo by Shoshana Lewin.
The evening ended on a truly magical note under the stars at the Goofy
Pool stage when American Idol‘s Kimberly Locke and Peabo Bryson
sang “Wishes” off the compilation CD of the same name (reviewed
here—$5
of every CD sale goes to Make-a-Wish. After this, the two sang “A
Whole New World” (Peabo and Regina Bell sang the original Oscar-winning
song) and were joined on stage by an assortment of Disney characters who
hugged each Make-a-Wish child (there were more than a few teary eyes in
the crowd during the song).
At the end of the night, the only wish that hadn’t come true was the one everyone had of being able to stay on the ship just a bit longer.
For more information on Make-a-Wish, visit their Web site (link).
Ears to the Ground
…This year’s Candlelight Processional returns to the Fantasyland Theater
and is scheduled for multiple weekends, most likely two.
…Sometime in October, Marie Osmond is releasing an Annette Funicello
doll. The release is in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Mickey
Mouse Club television show.
The not-yet-released Annette Funicello doll by Marie Osmond. Photo by
Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
Don’t keep it to yourself! Send us your news tips,
rumors, and comments. E–mail us
here.
Current Refurbishments and Attraction Closures
Don’t keep it to yourself! Send us your news tips,
rumors, and comments. E–mail us
here.
Disneyland
- Haunted Mansion closed September 6–29 to
install Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay; closed Jan. 9–25, 2006
to remove overlay
- Pirates of the Caribbean closed October 3 through December
13 (this closure does not have an official announcement supporting
it; it should be taken as strong rumor and not certain fact). New
rumors say that this refurbishment may be pushed out to early 2006
and be as long as four months. As soon as anything is confirmed, we’ll
say so.
- Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is currently under construction
and will open sometime in 2007.
Disney’s California Adventure
- Monster, Inc.: Mike and Sully to the Rescue is under construction
and will open in early 2006.
Note: Refurbishment schedules are estimates only. All information
is subject to change without notice. To get the most recent updates,
call Disneyland at (714) 781–7290.
Events
June
- Magical Milestone – A Pin Celebration. June 24 –
Aug. 15 at the Disneyland Resort (link).
September
- Robert Olszewski merchandise release. September 10 at Disneyland
Park. Several new pieces in his “Disneyland in Miniature”
collection: Disney Showcase/Magic Shop/20th Century Music and Jungle
Cruise as well as a pin trading cart and a marching band character
pack.
Current Discounts & Promotions
Several current promotions offer discounted admission to the Disneyland
Resort. For convenience sake, we have grouped the discount offers based
on the number of days the tickets are valid. Check out the category
that best matches the amount of time you plan to spend at the resort,
and pick the offer which works best for you. And keep those tips coming
– let us know if you find a better / different offer, so we can
share it with other readers!
| One Day | Southern California 1–Day Park Hopper ($68/$58) |
| Two Days | AAA Flex Passport ($98/$78)– Some AAA A reader let us know that AAA offices in Oregon and Idaho Advance Purchase 2–Day Park Hopper ($105/$85)– |
| Three Days | AAA Flex Passport ($129/$99)– Some AAA offices |
City Pass($185/$127)– The cost of The Southern California City Pass can also be purchased online | |
3–Day Park You can take advantage of the Advance Purchased discount Both offers are available at the Disneyland Web site (link) Several readers wrote to tell us that the Safeway stores | |
| Four Days | 4–Day Park Hopper Bonus tickets($159/$129) You can take advantage of the Advance Purchased discount These tickets are available through the Disneyland Web site |
| Five Days | Disney’s AAA Passport Plus Package 2005($169/$139)–
An additional handling fee of $10 is charged per mailing address. Several readers report that their local AAA offices do not MousePlanet has contacted AAA offices around the country The Auto Club of Southern California (ACSC) is not participating |
5–Day Park Hopper Bonus tickets($139/$139) ($169/$139) You can take advantage of the Advance Purchased discount Both of these ticket offers are available through the Disneyland | |
Alaska Airlines “Kids Fly Free” promotion through | |
| Six or Seven Days | Disney’s AAA Passport Plus Package 2005– The Parkhopper
An additional handling fee of $10 is charged per mailing address. Several readers report that their local AAA offices do not The Auto Club of Southern California (ACSC) is not participating |
Special thanks to MousePlanet reader David Michael for some | |
Fourth Night Free
Get a fourth night free if you stay at any of the three Disneyland
Resort hotels for three or more consecutive nights. Visits must happen
through December 18, 2005 (link).
2005 Resort Magic Package
This package (link)
for couples includes two nights’ lodging and a park hopper tickets.
Travel must occur “value seasons” from August 28–November
21, 2005; and November 27–December 23, 2005.
- 50th Anniversary commemorative certificate (one per package)
- Park Hopper bonus ticket, which includes one early entry into Fantasyland
and a $10 ESPN Zone game card. (Park hopper tickets can be upgraded
to an annual pass for an extra fee)
- Preferred seating to select shows at Disney’s California Adventure
- Entry into Mickey’s Toontown Madness
- Walt Disney Travel Co. lanyard and pin (one per person)
- Walt Disney Travel Co. luggage tag
- Walt Disney Travel Co. fun book (one per package)
Two versions of the package are available. For $349 per person (double
occupancy) you can stay at one of the on–property Disney hotels.
For $229 per person (double occupancy) you can get the same package
while staying at the Jolly Roger Hotel or Red Roof Inn Maingate.
50th Anniversary Package
The Happiest Homecomings on Earth package has been revised for the
new year. The previous promotion was good only for three–night
stays at the Disneyland Resort hotels; the new offer is valid on longer
stays and includes Good Neighbor Hotels as well.
Instead of the 50th anniversary commemorative clock and Walk in Walt’s
Footsteps tour, the new packages include all the following:
- “Enchanting” commemorative certificate (one per package)
- Park Hopper bonus ticket, which includes one early entry into Fantasyland
and a $10 ESPN Zone game card. (Park hopper tickets can be upgraded
to an annual pass for an extra fee)
- Preferred seating to select shows at Disney’s California Adventure
- Entry into Mickey’s Toontown Madness
- Walt Disney Travel Co. lanyard and pin (one per person)
- Walt Disney Travel Co. luggage tag
- Walt Disney Travel Co. fun book (one per package)
The “Happiest Homecoming on Earth” package is available
for arrival dates through December 31, 2005. The package must be booked
online through the Disneyland Web site (link)
by December 28, 2005.
Free Stroller Rental
Holders of a Disney Visa card can get up to two free stroller rentals
per day at the Disneyland Resort. This offer is valid through September
30, 2006 and you must present a valid Disney Visa card at time of rental.
ESPN Zone MVP Club
If you sign up online for ESPN Zone’s MVP Club (link),
you can receive a $20 voucher (for food, merchandise, or game cards),
a 40–point game card (about $10 worth), and an ESPN Zone mini–cooler.
ESPN Club in Orlando is excluded from this offer. You must pick up these
items in person, although they do not have to be used as the same store
from which you get them. There are some fairly strict requirements for
registering and getting your rewards, so make sure you read the details
carefully (link).
Park Schedule/Blockout Dates
DL: Disneyland
DCA: Disney’s California Adventure
Annual Pass blockout dates:
- SL – Southern California Select Annual Pass
- SC – Southern California Annual Pass
- DX – Deluxe Annual Pass
Sun | Mon | Tues | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Sat |
| 7/18 | 7/19 | 7/20 | 7/21 | 7/22 | 7/23 | |
| DL: 8a–Mid | DL: 8a–Mid | DL: 8a–Mid | DL: 8a–Mid | DL: 8a–Mid | DL: 8a–Mid |
| 7/24 | 7/25 | 7/26 | 7/27 | 7/29 | 7/29 | 7/30 |
DL: 8a–Mid | DL: 8a–Mid | DL: 8a–Mid | DL: 8a–Mid | DL: 8a–Mid | DL: 8a–Mid | DL: 8a–Mid |
| 7/31 | 8/1 | 8/2 | 8/3 | 8/4 | 8/5 | 8/6 |
DL: 8a–Mid | DL: 8a–Mid | DL: 8a–Mid | DL: 8a–Mid | DL: 8a–Mid | DL: 8a–Mid | DL: 8a–Mid |
Visit our
Annual Passholders Blockout Dates 2005 page to see more dates.
You can see future calendar schedules at Disneyland.
Entertainment schedule: Go directly to the Disneyland Resort
schedule for this week at Disneyland.com
here.
