"In 1966 the world was saddened hearing of Mr. Disney's death- but it's such a comfort to know his soul lives on together with his dreams and his memory will live forever in my heart."
-Annette Funicello
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Monday, December 14, 2015
Star Wars Week: DISNEYLAND Records
The original storyteller books and records for Star Wars were released by DISNEYLAND Records years before the company would forge a larger relationship with Lucasfilm and decades before it would buy the company outright.
R2-D2 and C3-PO were especially popular with kids and DISNEYLAND Records buyers.
The records primarily featured Anthony Daniels narrating them and R2-D2's beeps as a reminder to turn the page.
The record series was used to teach young children as well.
Learn your ABCs or else!
It was an interesting partnership, considering that Walt Disney Productions had originally turned George Lucas down when he approached them with the idea for Star Wars.
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Friday, December 11, 2015
The Story of DISNEYLAND: The Disney Decade
As DISNEYLAND entered the 1990's, The Walt Disney Company began thinking about what to do with the surrounding area. The company had finally purchased The DISNEYLAND Hotel and began buying up large tracts of land surrounding the Magic Kingdom. As the 35th Anniversary kicked off, the company announced the beginning of what it termed 'The Disney Decade'.
The Disney Decade would see the arrival of two new lands in DISNEYLAND- Mickey's Starland and Hollywoodland. Tomorrowland would be completely remodeled and an entirely new park would spring up next door- Westcot Center.
Glamorous Hollywoodland
New Tomorrowland
Westcot Center
As soon as the plans were announced, changes were made. Mickey's Starland became Mickey's Toontown. New Tomorrowland was scaled back. Hollywoodland, which would have been located just off Main Street between the main entrance and Tomorrowland was abandoned. The first project debuted in 1992- Mickey's Toontown.
As Disney began to re-evaluate things, a curious new attraction debuted in Adventureland- the Indiana Jones Adventure, which kicked off DISNEYLAND's 40th year.
As the Disney Decade entered its second half, it became clear that Westcot was not necessarily a feasible idea. Designed to be a west coast EPCOT Center, the park fell out of favor when Disney executives remembered that the original EPCOT Center had been anything but successful when it debuted in 1982; as a matter of fact, it almost brought the entire company down. It would take millions of dollars and new management to get things back on track. Probably not a good model for a new theme park. While the company pondered what to do about DISNEYLAND's second park, it began work on the scaled down Tomorrowland upgrade. While Walt Disney had knocked down Tomorrowland twice in ten years, the company decreed that this renovation would use existing facilities.
The decision to use existing structures for the new attractions resulted in the first large scale failure in the park's history- the short lived Rocket Rods. This "exciting" attraction reused the People Mover tracks to create what was supposed to be a thrilling ride through Tomorrowland. The track was ill suited for a fast paced ride and guests were unimpressed. Add to that the constant breakdowns and this high flying attraction was more trouble than it was worth. It quickly closed, never to reopen.
By the end of the decade, the park was ready to embark on its next big adventure- Disney California Adventure, the new theme park that would replace Westcot Center. Strikingly similar to an idea that Walt Disney had in the early 1960's called Disney California Living, the park would begin the transformation of the area outside Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom into a full fledged resort.
Keeping Mr. Disney's promise of an ever changing, ever expanding experience, construction began on the biggest expansion in Anaheim since 1955.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Theme Park Thursdays: The Trash Cans of DISNEYLAND
Walt Disney didn't want his Magic Kingdom to look like anywhere else in the world. It was supposed to be a bright, clean and happy place. So how would he deal with the inevitable trash? Would he just accept utilitarian trash cans? Not Walt. He decreed that even the trash cans would be brightly painted, like these found on Main Street:
Or these from Tomorrowland:
Even DISNEYLAND attractions have their own style of trash cans, like this one from it's a small world:
Most people probably don't even notice the trash cans, but they contribute to the magic atmosphere that Walt Disney wanted. A magical kingdom that continues to delight people from around the world every day.
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Weird Wednesdays: Mustaches Not Allowed
When DISNEYLAND opened, Walt Disney had strict appearance rules for staff. The biggest rule was no mustaches. Walt felt that mustaches would make his staff look like "City Slickers". Except for one thing...
Mr. Disney obviously had a mustache of his own.
Apparently the rules don't apply when you're the King of DISNEYLAND.
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