Mickey Mouse, who hits the big Six-Oh this year, is still shaking money from vacationers the way a hurricane shakes fronds off a palm. Attendance at Walt Disney theme parks in Florida and California rose only 9% last year, but revenues grew 20% and income 36%. How does the little fellow do it? By jacking up prices, that's how. In 1984, when Michael Eisner came aboard as Disney's chairman and CEO, a ...

Stepping into the gay and unique atmosphere of Disneyland's New Orleans Square, guests find themselves returning to the winding streets of the mid-nineteenth century filled with authentic shops and roving entertainers. New Orleans is an extraordinary recreation of the fabled and romantic city at the height of its grandeur over a century ago. The Square consists of fine restaurants, ...

Forest Meadows resident Doug Scott spent 26 years singing barbershop quartet songs in the magic kingdom known as Disneyland. Wearing a bright yellow vest, yellow striped pants and a straw hat, his bass blended smoothly with the other three Dapper Dans of Disneyland voices to keep park visitors tapping their toes and smiling. Today, photographs fill two walls of his home, showing the quartet ...

Only auto of its kind, the early 1900's "horseless wagon," built by Carnation Company last summer to deliver its dairy products inside Disneyland has become one of the roost photographed objects in this photogra pher's paradise. Half the picture albums of the nation at the present rate will include its shiny red and white likeness, if it survives the stream of tourists who slide behind its old-fashioned ...

So you've just flown across the country, and arrived in California. You're excited to start your vacation, but wonder, is it worth heading right to the park? Maybe you're tired from a long flight. Maybe it's already after noon, and you're thinking how much can you really see? Maybe you're flying in for work, you only have a half day, and you're considering going to the parks. Is it worth the admission ...

According to Richard Lowry, the first and only holdup in Disneyland history went like this: On Aug. 21, 1960, the 25-year-old restaurant cashier was tasked with taking the day 's cash haul to the Disneyland bank (more on this in a minute). Holding linen bags filled with $10,000 - almost $95,000 today, adjusted for inflation - he headed out into the packed Sunday crowds on Main Street. As he ...

We weren't even in the park yet when the perjury began. Giddy with the excitement that only a day at the Magic Kingdom can conjure, my friend told Disneyland's parking attendant that she had given him a $50 bill rather than a $20 - just to watch him squirm. I apologized to the unfortunately dressed, overweight gentleman and told my friend that she simply couldn't pull that crap here. If you ...

One day last year in Los Angeles, as I was about to step aboard a helicopter that would take me to Disneyland with my teen-aged son and daughter, these two, smiling wanly, nodded toward a tourist poster that gave equal billing to our destination and to Forest Lawn cemetery. Their gesture reminded me that in earlier years they had wasted hundreds of child-hours vainly urging me to bring them on this very ...

If a full-grown adult knocked on your door on Halloween, your first thought definitely wouldn 't be: “They 're trick-or-treating! Let me give this person some candy.” But there I was, holding out my treat bag, and people were dropping handfuls of sweets and snacks into it. It 's true what they say. At Disneyland, anything is possible. At least it is in this case, when the “anything” in ...

A “Lion King” musical stage show with singers, dancers and drummers coming this summer to Disneyland will offer a new adaptation of the ancestral story of how a young lion cub becomes king of the jungle. The “Tale of the Lion King” show will open May 28 at Disneyland 's Fantasyland Theatre. Concept art shows the new “Lion King” stage in the Fantasyland Theatre with drummers on ...

The opening dates for Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at the Walt Disney Company's California and Florida parks have been revealed. The Millennium Falcon will be blasting off from Disneyland on May 31 and at Walt Disney World Resort on Aug. 29. The massive Galaxy's Edge is a new 14-acre land at the Disney theme parks, featuring rides and experiences that thrust visitors into the world of the recent Star ...

July 17, 1955 Autopia Day of Infamy! About half the Autopia cars were taken from the ride and moved to an offstage area next to the Main Street Town Square for the Opening Day Parade. The first sign of trouble appeared as I started the cars using a kick starter on the engine while holding the rear engine hood open. The day was getting hotter and hotter, and the cars began to vapor lock and stall after ...

Opening on July 17, 1955, Disneyland Park changed the world. Over the past few decades since then, it has undergone multiple changes, including the addition of adjacent hotels, Downtown Disney, and Disney California Adventure Park. But let 's explore the attractions that were there from the very beginning. The Mad Tea Party Although the “teacups” is ride has been ...

Official opening dates for Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World were announced Thursday during the Walt Disney Company Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge in Disneyland Park at the Disneyland Resort (Anaheim) will officially open on May 31, 2019. Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort (Florida) will ...

As told by Tony Baxter to Chris Nichols I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark at a sneak preview in Pasadena in 1981. There wasn't a ton of anticipation for it, but in the first ten minutes you have the rolling ball and the tarantulas. Art director Skip Lange and I were on the edge of our seats. I remember saying, "Can you imagine if we could do something with this?" Disney hadn't had the entire family ...

Rima Bruce, one of the original Disneyland employees on the park's opening day, died last month of a stroke. She was 85. With the passing of Bruce, just 19 employees from Disneyland's opening day are still alive, said Bob Penfield, also an original Disneyland employee. Those employees are members of Club 55 named after 1955, the year the park opened. Bruce worked at Disneyland for 32 years, ...

Between dining, souvenirs, hotels, and transportation, the cost of a Disneyland trip can add up quickly. However, there are several easy ways to ease expenses during your vacation that can easily be overlooked. We will take you through six ways by category that you can save money during your next trip to Disneyland! 1 A big place you can easily save money is on multi-day Disneyland tickets. ...

With Darth Vader and company claiming their old ranch, Disneyland's horses may head to a new home not so far, far away ... in Horsetown USA. The Walt Disney Co. is proposing to build a horse training facility in Norco where it can prep animals for its Anaheim-based resort. Melissa Britt, communications manager for Disneyland Resort, said employees were notified late Wednesday about plans to ...

It's not the first time Disney has unceremoniously cut the work of once-beloved 1940s feminist Mary Blair (Tomorrowland, ironically, is long gone), but making her Small World smaller will leave a lasting scar. More after the jump... Blair, known for her colorful, geometric designs and the sets she created for Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and other post-war confections, also designed the UNICEF ...

Disneyland Hotel has several outstanding shops which already have proven highly popular with the visitors. Carrying the finest in imports and domestic merchandise, the shops are of the latest styling in decor and invite visitors to the hotel or restaurants to browse through them at leisure. The Men's Shop is owned by Lee Williams who virtually was born in the clothing business in Ohio and has ...

Last year I wrote about the Brooklyn Nets and the master class in branding they put on display in their new arena. But if you want to be truly schooled on how to manage a brand, visit Disneyland and see how longtime professionals do it. This was the very first time I'd ever been to a Disney theme park as a dad, having done Disney a few times as a kid, and once as an adult working on the brand. I ...