Sailing Ship Columbia Articles
14 Venues, Show Temporarily Close In Disney Parks
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Disneyland Resort parks have 14 venues and one show that are temporarily closed during May, mostly for major makeovers or special events.
Many of the projects are ending this month as the two parks -- Disneyland and Disney California Adventure -- prepare for the summer season.
Along Disneyland's Rivers of America, four attractions and the Fantasmic! Show are shut down for preparations of the ...
Disneyland Closes Attractions For Pirates Premiere
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Disneyland this week temporarily closed five attractions as the park prepares for next week's celebrity-studded premiere of the upcoming "Pirates of the Caribbean 4" movie.
Crews are building a screen and seating along Rivers of America for the outdoor viewing May 7 of "Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides" for celebrities, invited guests and ticket holders. The screening follows "black" ...
A Brief History Of Disneyland, An American Classic
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"The thing will get more beautiful year after year. And it will get better as I find out what the public likes; I can't do that with a picture it's finished and unchangeable before I find out whether the public likes it or not." Walt Disney on Disneyland.
Walt Disney found different reasons to build his seventeen million dollar Magic Kingdom in Anaheim in 1955. The idea had originally stemmed ...
Mickey's Halloween Party At Disneyland
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I went to my first Mickey's Halloween Party last Friday!
I shot photos and wrote words about the experience!
Think I'm lying?
Nope, not lying.
I've always loved the month of October in the parks. Disney is thorough about pretty much everything they do, but they seem to give an extra bit of attention to detail during their celebration of Halloween.
Yes, I've been in the parks many ...
7 Attractions Temporarily Close At Disney
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Visitors to Disneyland resorts may want to check ahead to see if their favorite rides are operating as the park begins its annual maintenance.
Starting Monday, seven attractions will close for refurbishment as well as some shows and restaurants.
The 52-year-old Matterhorn Bobsled ride will be closed until summer while crews update the ride and add new vehicles featuring three seats.
Crews ...
Disney Temporarily Closes 8 Attractions, 1 Show
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Eight Disney parks attractions, one show and some hotel pools will be temporarily closed for at least part of February mostly because of maintenance projects.
Disney traditionally conducts most of their big renovation projects in the winter months following the busy holidays when tourism slows down.
On Friday (today), Disney is reopening two of those attractions -- Redwood Creek Challenge Trail ...
12 Unique And Magical Memories To Be Made At Disneyland
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When visiting Disney, many families head straight for the E-ticket rides, from Space Mountain to the Matterhorn to Dumbo. But in doing so they not only spend a whole lot of time in long lines, but they miss out on so many magical moments and memories that can be made at the "happiest place on earth.' Though these attractions are less popular, they are just as special and endure in family memories far ...
10 Disney Attractions Closing For Rehab
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Indiana Jones Adventure and two Fantasyland rides will close for most of the fall to undergo renovations as summer crowds dissipate at Disneyland.
That park and neighboring Disney California Adventure will shut down 10 venues in September for refurbishment, after the record-breaking summer season wraps up with Labor Day.
The longest closures, which begin Tuesday, will be Indiana Jones Adventure, ...
California vs. Paris: Rivers of America
I learned something today.
My comparison article for January 2013 was always going to be about the Rivers of America in Anaheim's Disneyland Park, and its counterpart in Disneyland Paris.
However, until perhaps five minutes ago, I had assumed that the Paris equivalent was also called Rivers of America. Turns out, it's the Rivers of the Far West.
Whilst it has been made clear which rivers ...
Disneyland For Dads
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In the land of Disney, princess always reigned supreme. However, though Sleeping Beauty's Castle, the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and those ever-popular princesses may get a lot of the attention, Disneyland and California Adventure offer a pixie dust-less world for the guys in your life too - all in time for Father's Day in June.
Cars Land
Route 66 comes to life for plain-old cars and animated ...
Stricter Rules For Amusement Parks
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Once upon a time, in a land known as Anaheim, the rulers of the Magic Kingdom of Disneyland had things pretty much their way when it came to customer safety, as did the rulers of all the amusement parks in the great regulatory wilderness of California. They had no legal obligation to report accidents to the government. They investigated mishaps and came to their own conclusions, which generally went like ...
Captain Takes You Inside The Wheelhouse Of The Mark Twain Riverboat At Disneyland
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Ever wonder what it's like to steer the Mark Twain Riverboat through the Rivers of America at Disneyland? Or how the Radiator Springs Raceway cars get their power?
"Every Role a Starring Role" is one of my favorite Disneyland blogs that takes you behind the scenes with various cast members who describe their jobs.
Jen Holst, a Mark Twain Riverboat captain, describes herself as "the eyes and ears" ...
Music is Magic
I don't even remember my first trip to Disneyland as a child. My first trip with my high school band, on the other hand, I do remember, if a little vaguely. Hey, I've been going since I was a kid, and even with my makeshift leash, all the wonderful memories have always tended to blend together. It was when I was a freshman in high school and we were to march down Main Street, something we did every year. ...
Disneyland Swaps Peter Pan For Jack Sparrow When Fantasmic Returns In May
The “Fantasmic” nighttime spectacular will return to Disneyland 's Rivers of America on May 24 with a beloved Peter Pan sequence on the Sailing Ship Columbia and a new climactic battle scene between Sorcerer Mickey and Maleficent.
The returning scene - featuring Peter Pan and Captain Hook sword fighting amid the masts of a pirate ship - was part of the original “Fantasmic” show when the ...
Growing Up In Disneyland
Don DeFore's Silver Banjo Barbecue Restaurant in Frontierland
Disneyland fans who have enjoyed the park numerous times might say they too "grew up in Disneyland." But my family's story is a bit different. Our Mom loved to quote us kids saying, "gee, do we have to go to Disneyland again? Such was the case in the early years of the Park when Dad owned a restaurant in Frontierland. A few stories below ...
A Darker Side
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When a Disneyland visitor from Washington state was fatally injured by a flying piece of metal last month. the folks at the self-proclaimed "Happiest Place on Earth" had the blood and debris cleaned up within half an hour -- before investigators could get a look at the scene.
Legally. Disneyland did nothing wrong. But to some. the quick cleanup illustrates corporate arrogance and an extreme desire to ...
What It Takes To Run Mark Twain Riverboat
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A few years ago, The Orange County Register was allowed to spend some time with the crew on board the Mark Twain Riverboat.
Many of the attractions at Disneyland are operated with the push of a button, but the Mark Twain Riverboat is not one of them.
Just like the locomotives of the Disneyland Railroad, the Mark Twain needs steam to power its paddlewheel and a crew that uses signal bells to help ...
8 More Unanswered Questions About Star Wars Land
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Disney raised even more questions with the recent announcement of plans to temporarily close the Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island and the Disneyland Railroad to allow for construction of Star Wars Land.
Here's what we know so far: The new 14-acre land will feature two attractions set in a remote frontier town on the outer rim of the "Star Wars" galaxy. While no opening date has been set, ...
Disneyland Ride Review Full Steam Ahead On The Mark Twain
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Engine room, full speed ahead. The bell clangs and the steam whistle blows as you embark on a journey aboard the Mark Twain Riverboat, one of Disneyland's opening day attractions still around. It will take you on a journey on the Rivers of America in Frontierland, nearly identical to the one visitors to the park encountered in 1955.
As the steam-powered paddle wheeler glides away from the dock, it ...
African Veldt
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Way down in Jungleland, below the Amazin' Disney line, there's news among the gnus. "The Trapped Safari" is the new headline feature and a bit of bright fun in Disneyland's far-famed Adventureland and the Jungle River Cruise. Jackals, hyenas and buzzards lay siege to a comical hunter and his retinue treed by the wild beasts. Disneyland adventurers drift safely past as lions devour an unsuspecting prey ...
58 Ways Star Wars Land Is Changing Disneyland
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The Walt Disney Company recently announced that an entirely new land based on the Star Wars universe would be coming to Disneyland, likely in 2019. The 14-acre mini universe will feature two major new rides and other attractions including a restaurant based on the Mos Eisley cantina in the films. I'm not a big Star Wars aficionado, but I hear that the designers working on it are, and genuine fans can ...
Disneyland To Close Some Attractions To Build Star Wars Land
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To make way for "Star Wars," Disneyland is about to launch its largest expansion ever, which means shutting down a significant chunk of the Anaheim theme park.
In January, 10 attractions and eateries will close - some temporarily, some permanently - only a few months after the resort hiked the price of annual passes as much as 31%. This spring, Disneyland's biggest rival, Universal Studios Hollywood, ...
Disneyland To Close Multiple Attractions In January To Build Star Wars Land
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Disneyland is set to close multiple attractions and eateries next month to make room for the new "Star Wars"-themed land in the Orange County theme park.
The 14-acre project would be Disney's largest single themed land expansion, CEO Bob Iger said when he announced the project in August at the D23 Expo.
Groundbreaking is scheduled to take place in 2016 at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios ...
Getting To Disneyland Star Wars Land Needs To Be Magical
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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 ...
Disneyland Ride Review Sailing Ship Columbia & Maritime Museum
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Ahoy, mateys! Welcome aboard Disneyland's Sailing Ship Columbia, an authentic replica of the first United States ship to sail around the world.
Only this version sails around the Rivers of America in Frontierland, out into the wilderness and back.
You see, Walt Disney wanted another ship to sail on his river here at Disneyland besides the Mark Twain Riverboat - so he had his Imagineers make one ...
Dangerous Disneyland Mental Fatigue Part 2
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It wasn't until I was almost finished with the human stupidity portion of this "Dangerous Disney" article that I realized that this should be a two-parter, so that (in addition to keeping it from being too long) some might hopefully regain some faith in humanity. Here is that second part. Again, some of these I've only read about on one site.
I start with the PeopleMover, again. In 1968 a rainstorm ...
Disneyland Begins Draining Rivers Of America As Prep For Star Wars Land Continues
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The water was lower by about four feet in the northern half of the Rivers of America at Disneyland Wednesday afternoon, as the park started to drain it so it could start work on re-routing the river and more.
The water is being recycled, according to Suzi Brown, a Disneyland Resort spokeswoman.
"All the resort's water is sent to the Orange County Water District and recycled," she said.
The ...
This Is How Disneyland Changed From 1956 To 1959
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The day after Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955, many newspapers had a field day with the myriad of problems the park had, such as gas leaks, failing plumbing and a lack of drinking fountains. Some called it Walt's Folly and more.
But that didn't seem to matter to the public because when the park opened its gates the next day, there was a long line of people waiting to get in - and the lines never ...
This Is How Disneyland Changed In The 1990s
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It was a "Fantasmic!" start for Disneyland in the 1990s, and the decade ended with a new Tomorrowland and the disappearance of the parking lot.
1990-92
Not much happened for the first two years in terms of changes or additions of new attractions until 1992. Mission to Mars had its last flight and was grounded. In New Orleans Square, something new was coming to the waterfront of the Rivers of ...
Disneyland Attractions Closed To Build Star Wars Land Will Reopen In 2017
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Disney has offered no timeline for its new "Star Wars" land, but Thursday park fans learned attractions closed temporarily for its construction will reopen in 2017.
Park officials, on their Disney Parks blog, announced the attractions on the Rivers of America that went offline earlier this year as crews prepared for the construction of the 14-acre "Star Wars" land, will reopen next summer - an exact ...
Frozen Stage Show New Rides
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Being a frequent Disneyland visitor, I never figured a day would come that the highlight of a Disney resort visit would be a live-action performance of a cartoon beloved by 8-year-olds everywhere.
But, yes, perhaps hell has "Frozen" over.
Of course, my main motivation in going to Disneyland and California Adventure this year was to see all the "Star Wars" upgrades in Disneyland's Tomorrowland. ...
