Country Bear Jamboree Articles
Still Returning After 36 Years
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Having first visited Disneyland as a 2-year-old, Fairfax journalist James Croot reflects after his recent sixth visit.
"To all who come to this happy place: Welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savour the challenge and promise of the future."
Walter E Disney's words when he opened his theme park in July 1955 have never felt truer than ...
Disney Voice Over Actors Bring Theme Park Rides To Life
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Voice-over actors are the hidden artists who provide the audio atmosphere and essential back stories that bring theme parks to life..
From the parking lot tram spiel to park-wide announcements to ride narrations, the best work of voice-over actors often goes unnoticed simply because it blends so seamlessly into the overall theme park experience.
During the upcoming ScareLA convention on Aug. 8 ...
Of 999 Ghosts In Disneyland Haunted Mansion These Are The Stars You Need To Know
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
There are 999 ghosts inside Disneyland's Haunted Mansion (and always room for one more), but some of them are breakout stars. How well do you know your favorite haunts?
Ghost Host: The basso profundo voice of Paul Frees, known as the "Man of a Thousand Voices," guides guests through the tour of the Haunted Mansion. The Ghost Host is not the owner of the mansion, but rather a high-ranking servant. In ...
Getting To Disneyland Star Wars Land Needs To Be Magical
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
As the final scheduled day for the Rivers of America attractions at Disneyland comes to an end, it marks the closing of Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, the Mark Twain Riverboat, Sailing Ship Columbia and Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes and "Fantasmic!" for more than a year. Also included in the closures is the Disneyland Railroad.
All of this is so that Disney can reroute the Rivers of America to ...
This Is How Disneyland Looked In The 1970s
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
The seventies at Disneyland started with an invasion, then went into space, and ended with a wild ride in the frontier.
Unfortunately for Disneyland, the riots that had been happening in cities across America during the latter half of the sixties and some of the protesters turned their attention to Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom. On Aug. 6, 1970, the Yippies (an offshoot of the hippies of the sixties) ...
This Is How Disneyland Changed In The 1980s
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Changes at Disneyland in the 1980s started slow, then ended in a splash down a mountain.
During the first couple years of the decade, Disney Imagineers were busy with the design and building of Epcot Center (as it was called then) at Walt Disney World. But they were also planning a project for Disneyland - rebuilding Fantasyland.
1980-83
In early 1982, most of Fantasyland was behind a ...
This Is How Disneyland Changed In The 2000s
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
The new century started out with few changes inside Disneyland, as the company was focused on big changes outside the park, but things would liven up as the century progressed.
2000
Parking at Disneyland changed with the opening of the Mickey & Friends parking structure on the land that was a strawberry farm for decades. The more than 10,000-space structure was the largest one when it started ...
How Disneyland Installs The Holiday Version Of Its A Small World
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
As the Halloween season was winding down, Disneyland's famous canal boat ride, "It's a Small World," closes and goes through a transformation.
Inside the ride, a crew of 24 people is busy at work turning it into a holiday version complete with scenic Christmas trees, festive decorations and lights, lots of lights. On the outside another 11-person crew is working at night, when the park is closed, ...
Hunny In The Briar Patch
"Critter Country" was originally called the "Indian Village." Until 1971, that section of Frontierland contained Native American shows and attractions. The following year, it became "Bear Country," the first major expansion since the "Haunted Mansion" and cost $8 million. "Bear Country" was themed like the forest of the Pacific North-West. The centerpiece attraction was "Country Bear Jamboree" and was also ...
Disney Getting Good At Recycling Movie Ideas From Disneyland Rides
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
If Disney CEO Bob Iger ends up running for California governor - as has been rumored - I'm sure that the environment will stand atop his platform, because nobody in the entertainment business recycles more than Disney.
Animated movies becoming live action films, movies becoming theme park rides, theme park rides becoming movies. It's the Circle of Life, Hollywood style.
Most recently, Disney ...
10 Disneyland Attractions That Do Not Exist Anymore But We Wish Did
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
It's not easy being Disneyland. To keep people coming back and visiting year after year, the Anaheim amusement park has to constantly reinvent itself while not changing in ways that'll alienate diehard fans whose nostalgia runs deep. A few months ago, the park permanently closed the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror to turn it into Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout!, which opens May 27. While Disney ...
8 Things From Disneyland’s Past That Need To Come Back
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
With Disneyland kicking off its retro-inspired "After Dark" event this week, here are eight things from Disneyland's past that I wish I could see return to the park someday.
Helicopter rides from the airport - Yes, you once could fly in a helicopter from LAX straight to the Disneyland Hotel, soaring above Southern California's notoriously traffic-choked freeways. Sure, a one-way helicopter trip to the ...
Meet Maynard Smith The 25-Year Disneyland Employee Who Is An Attraction Himself
It's unlikely that anyone who met Maynard Smith at Disneyland would forget him. Whether he's working at the Enchanted Tiki Room or hosting as his "evil twin" at the Haunted Mansion, Smith brings his many comical voices and a unique presence to work on every shift.
He's so popular, in fact, that his fans created a Facebook page called "Maynard, the amazing Disneyland Castmember!" with 2,050 members ...
Pooh New? Nah
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Once upon a time, Disneyland built innovative, exciting attractions that helped make it the world's most popular and beloved theme park. Today, many of its former designers are out of work, laid off from Disney's kingdom. Some did go on to design other companies' parks, such as Universal's spectacular Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Fla. Those who remain work with meager budgets, turning out ...
Think You've Grown Up? See How You Handle Rides, Wonder, And Snot At The Happiest Place On Earth
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
In the movies, people usually come of age in the great outdoors. You know, the coming-of-age stories that involve summer camp or baseball or a week on your crotchety-but-ultimately-lovable uncle's farm. Movies with trailers that begin like, "When Billy left to spend the summer shelling crawfish on his stepfather's boat, the last thing he expected to learn about was himself." Cue song by Toad the Wet ...
Lifelong Fan Finds The Magic's Still Alive In Disneyland
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
The Disney empire has struggled recently with attacks on CEO Michael Eisner, an unsolicited takeover bid, sour ratings at ABC and complaints that the theme parks are falling into disrepair. But none of that matters to my children or to me when we step into the Magic Kingdom. Indeed, all reality is suspended during those few days we visit Anaheim's Disneyland Resort each summer.
As a Disneyland regular ...
Dear Walt, Thanks For The Memories
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
From smooching in the tunnels to wide-eyed kids and sobbing adults, our readers have been through it all in Disneyland's 50 years.
We've chosen excerpts from our favorite stories and photos among scores of tales told by readers who've paid countless visits to "The Happiest Place on Earth."
Disney's celebration begins this week and runs for 18 months - some birthday party! Ours starts today.
...
Your Best Day Ever At Disneyland
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Enjoy a Mickey Mouse flapjack for breakfast, then hit Splash Mountain early. Eat lunch at the Big Thunder Ranch. Top off your day at Disneyland by watching fireworks from a little know vantage point. Those are some of the tips we picked up after visiting Disneyland five times last season. We learned how to tackle the park during its busiest time-summer. We discovered how to cut hours from time spent ...
Disney 'Pirates' Looking for Box Office Booty
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Walt Disney Co.'s "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl" sets sail for movie theaters on Wednesday hunting for box office booty and looking to put some wind behind the aging "Pirates" ride at Disney's theme parks.
The live action pirate adventure has its risks since Disney can ill afford a flop on a big budget movie like last fall's animated "Treasure Planet."
"Planet" cost a ...
A Bear Necessity
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
The Country Bear Jamboree, a 17-minute show made up of more than 20 audio-animatronic bears, originally opened as an "E" ticket ride in Walt Disney World Florida, as one of the premier attractions for the park's opening in 1971. Just one short year later, it opened here in our very own Anaheim Disneyland, in Bear Country to be exact, on March 24, 1972. It's been there ever since. The original Jamboree ...
Disneyland Endures As A Rite Of Passage For Enraptured Lifelong Fans
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
I came, I saw, I was conquered as a child. I came back as a parent, following the impulse of many eager-beaver new parents to anoint my offspring in the reflected glory of Disneyland's glow.
The pilgrimage to the Magic Kingdom is a California rite of passage, whether the children are ready or not -- and they usually aren't. But really, how many of you couldn't wait to take your tots and tykes to ...
The Worst Disneyland Ride Of All Time
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Our best Disneyland ride post got a nice response, along with a gratuitous dissertation-quality analysis of guys with moustaches who wear white tank tops and jeans shorts. Have to say, that was a nice little detour ...
Today, let's talk about the worst Disneyland rides. For my list, I'm not going to factor in the age of the ride, the potential danger or the annoying souvenir stands at the end. I'm ...
Disneyland's Hidden Treats
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Since 1955, Disneyland has entertained guests of all ages with a mixture of rides, attractions and performances... but some of the most fun aspects of the park aren't necessarily well-known or easily seen by everyone (unless you're an avid visitor, hardcore fanatic, or trivia buff.)
There are countless little in-jokes, fun facts and visual hide-and-seeks around the park, but listing them all would ...
Not Every After Hours Event Is Worth It This One Is
Regardless of my romantic situation on any given year, I 've never cared much about Valentine 's Day. The whole thing - elaborate gifts, overpriced roses, fancy dinners - always felt so constructed to me. It just never seemed like the outsized expectations that come with a holiday largely manufactured by commercialism could possibly match up to the reality of the night.
Which is a long ...
Disneyland 55 And Still A Major Force
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Disneyland The Happiest Place on Earth turns 55 this summer. Clearly, Walt Disney's dream of creating a family park where parents and children could have fun together is here to stay.
But that's not to say Disneyland hasn't seen its share of changes in 5½ decades. Indeed, one of the biggest overhauls in the Anaheim, Calif., resort's history is currently under way inside California Adventure.
...
Bill Justice, Walt Disney Studios Animator Worked On Fantasia And Bambi
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Bill Justice, a former Walt Disney Studios animator who worked on classics such as "Fantasia," "Bambi" and "Alice in Wonderland" and later joined Walt Disney Imagineering where he helped program Audio-Animatronics figures for attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, died Thursday, a day after he turned 97.
Justice died of natural causes in a nursing home in Santa Monica, said Ted King, a ...
10 Hidden Details Only True Fans Noticed
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
All Disney fans know that Disney parks are full of surprises and hidden Easter eggs. Many of these hidden details pay tribute to creator and cartoonist Walt Disney and the long, celebrated history of the parks. Others are just fun little gags that are sure to delight children and adults alike. Disneyland in Anaheim, California was the first park to be opened by Walt Disney, and it has undergone many ...
Can You Name All 15 Eticket Rides Still At Disneyland It Is Not As Easy As You Think
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
As Disneyland celebrates the 60th anniversary of the E-ticket, it seems like a good time to look back at the rides that earned that distinction at the Anaheim theme park.
But what are the E-ticket rides of Disneyland? Naming them all is not as simple as you might think.
There were 23 E-ticket attractions during the ticket book era that stretched from 1955 to 1982, according to ...
Why Splash Mountain Redesign Should Mean An Even Bigger Change In The Park
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
It has been a wild ride worthy of a Disneyland attraction. After a groundswell of support built up for the idea of re-theming Splash Mountain at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, Disney responded by announcing that the parks would do exactly that. While no timeline has been given, both parks' Splash Mountain rides will be replacing the existing Song of the South theme with The Princess and the Frog ...
10 Things That Disneyland Took From Disney World
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Disneyland was Walt Disney's revolutionary theme park that brought families together, but his "Florida Project" was designed to be a constantly evolving endeavor that would be unlike anything his original had done before. This has become more or less true as decades have rolled on.
While Disneyland remains the gold standard, Walt Disney World is the bigger and better version. So much so, in ...
Q And A Authors Discuss Their New Book About The Unbuilt Disney Ski Resort
Did you know Walt Disney planned a ski resort and year-round recreation complex in California called the Mineral King? Sadly, that Disney ski resort was never built, but a new book titled Disneyland on the Mountain: Walt, the Environmentalists, and the Ski Resort That Never Was tells its story.
Walt 's plan was for a vacation destination - like “Disneyland at the top of a mountain” - where ...
