Tom Sawyers Island Articles
10 Scary Legendary Ghost Tales Of Disneyland Haunts
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I recently interviewed a cast member who works inside the Haunted Mansion. She talked about the belief, among Disney employees, that the place is inhabited by more than the Disney-created 999 haunts. She said female employees talk about ghosts that untie the ribbons in the cast members' hair. She said props move from one side of a room to the other. She said there are behind-the-scenes rooms in the ...
12 Essential Tips For Enjoying Disneyland In The Rain
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A day at Disneyland is usually fun in the sun thanks to Southern California's reputation for year-round sunshine - unless you happen to show up at the theme park on one of the 23 days when it rains each year on average in Anaheim. This will go down as one of the rainiest weeks of the year in Anaheim, with the forecast calling for showers stretching into the weekend. While Disneyland remains open ...
12 Essential Tips For Enjoying Disneyland On A Rainy Day
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A day at Disneyland is usually fun in the sun thanks to Southern California 's reputation for year-round sunshine - unless you happen to show up at the theme park on one of the two dozen days when it rains each year on average in Anaheim. A series of storms headed for Southern California are expected to bring showers to the region over the next two weeks, making for a wet holiday season as ...
12 Fun Things You May Not Know About Disneyland
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Test your Disney trivia mojo here. How many of these items do you already know? 1. King Arthur Carousel. The lead horse on the iconic Fantasyland carousel is named Jingles. Walt Disney wanted all horses on the carousel, and he wanted them all to be leaping, so when a classic carousel was purchased, it was supplemented with other horses and those that had straight legs were redesigned. 2. Main ...
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 ...
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 ...
1st Disney Park Goes Golden
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After half a century, those mad teacups are still spinning, the baby elephants are still flying, the hippos' ears are still wiggling and the cash registers are still jingling. Disneyland, a place both timeless and frozen in time, hits a milestone this summer when it turns 50 in Anaheim, Calif. But not everybody sees the self-proclaimed Happiest Place on Earth as exactly that. A feisty band of ...
20 Best Places To Rest With Kids
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Disneyland is a magical place filled with excitement and a ton of things to do. After walking around all day, your feet and your kids' feet will most likely start to hurt, and everyone is going to need a little break from the warm California weather. But where to go? There are plenty of places across Disneyland and Disney California Adventure for a break-places like slow-moving dark attractions and quick ...
22 Years And Still Jazzed About Disneyland Gig
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For 22 years, a group of Arizona State University graduates have held squatters' rights to one of the choicest pieces of real estate on Planet Earth. The spot: At the bend of the river in Disneyland's New Orleans Square, just across from the Fantasmic! extravaganza on Tom Sawyer's Island. The grads: The Side Street Strutters, one of American's great Dixieland jazz bands, have been entertaining ...
22,000 Expected At Disneyland 'Pirates' Premiere
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Disneyland plans to set up 20,000 bleacher seats for fans who want to watch celebrity arrivals, including possibly Johnny Depp, for the "Pirates of the Caribbean 4" premiere Saturday. Another 2,000 invited guests, stars and ticket holders only are allowed to watch the "Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides" premiere along the Rivers of America. Fans can start filling seats as soon as the ...
23 Rides That Have Shut Down And The Surprising Reasons Why
Rocket to the Moon closed and inspired several futuristic flight rides were equally unsuccessful. Rocket to the Moon was a Disneyland opening day attraction in 1955 that placed guests in a giant rocket ship, or moonliner, standing in Tomorrowland. The futuristic simulation ride was sponsored by the now defunct airline TWA (Trans World Airline). Guests sat in a circle with screens ...
24 Surprising Things About Disneyland We Did Not Know But Should
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Disneyland is said to be the "Happiest Place on Earth." For one day (or several depending on your trip schedule) people of all ages from toddlers to seniors can have fun, let loose and become a kid again. It's a place filled with magic, music, your favourite characters and rides to fit whatever you're in the mood for. It opened its doors on July 17, 1955, and was the masterpiece of Walt Disney's ...
50 Things You Didn't Know About Disneyland
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In honor of Disneyland's 50th anniversary, we present 50 cool, obscure and simply odd things you probably didn't know about the self-proclaimed Happiest Place on Earth. Many were culled from Mouse Tales by David Koenig (Bonaventure, $19.95). Some were provided by Disney archivist Dave Smith, and others came from 101 Things You Never Knew About Disneyland by former park employee Kevin Yee and lifelong fan ...
50 Ways To Love Disneyland
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Mickey Mouse is planning a blowout as Disneyland Resort in California celebrates its 50th anniversary, starting Thursday. Sure, it'll be hot, and the lines will be long. But you know you want to go: the Matterhorn; Mickey-shaped, chocolate-covered ice cream; mouse ears with your name embroidered on the back. Arizona is second only to California for the number of people who make the pilgrimage to the ...
50 Years Of Disneyland
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Disneyland spokesman Tim O'Day, hired as a parade performer in 1976 and knowledgeable about virtually every Disneyland detail, is practically the grand marshal of the theme park's rich history, including its integration to motion pictures. The co-author of Disneyland: Then, Now and Forever talked with Box Office Mojo about the Happiest Place on Earth. Box Office Mojo: Which principle defines ...
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 ...
8 Great Tips For Enjoying Disneyland, Despite The Crowds
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For Southern Californians and thousands of lucky Southwest Riverside residents Disneyland is a conveniently close source of fun and fantasy. But, with well over 14 million guests visiting the park each year, the masses have a way of overwhelming even the most die-hard Disney fans. So, you're going to Disneyland. For millions across the world, it is the happiest place on Earth a holiday requiring ...
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, ...
8 Things From Disneyland’s Past That Need To Come Back
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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 ...
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 ...
A Disneyland Chronology
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Summer 1948: Walt Disney visits the Chicago Railroad Fair, a spectacle that spurs his dream for a "Mickey Mouse Park." June 1953: Stanford Research Institute is tapped to conduct a survey for a site within metropolitan Los Angeles and accessible by freeway. Search ends with purchase of 160 acres of orange groves in Anaheim. July 21, 1954: Construction of Disneyland begins. July 17, 1955: ...
A Fantasy That Paid Off
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The place is surrounded by a berm, a high barrow of earth, that insulates it from the external world. There is a single gateway where admission is charged. This, the land of Disney, is more secure than ancient Troy. No Trojan horse will get into Disneyland. Guards at the main gate closely scrutinize all who enter. Not even an unseemly teenager will get past them, much less a Trojan horse. Disneyland is ...
A Few Nuggets About Disneyland As It Turns 56
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Disneyland The Happiest Place on Earth turns 56 on Sunday. Much has been said and written about the groundbreaking amusement enterprise in Anaheim, Calif. But even after more than five and a half decades in operation, some interesting nuggets can still be unearthed. For instance, not many people are aware that during the first few years of operation, not only could you visit the park during a ...
A Park With A Powerful Spell
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Disneyland opened on this day in 1955. For five decades, the Anaheim attraction has worked its magic on our culture and transformed the entertainment industry. To build his dream theme park in Anaheim a half-century ago, Walt Disney borrowed against his life insurance policy and cashed in property, including a vacation home in Palm Springs, to pay the $17-million construction bill. When the ...
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 ...
After Dark The Dirty Work At Disneyland Begins
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A crew of 600 custodians, painters, gardeners and decorators works 365 nights a year to ensure that the 85-acre park meets Walt Disney's squeaky-clean ideals. When the last Jungle Cruise boat docks for the night and lights fade to black on Sleeping Beauty's Castle, the real work begins. At lush Pixie Hollow, gardeners don miner's headlamps as they begin uprooting stubborn weeds. On Main Street, ...
An Ode To A Bygone Disneyland
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"I'm not Disney-obsessed, but I never discount the effect it had on me as a child," says the pop-culture humorist and author, best known for blending comedy and commentary in shows based on other people's family and vacation slides. "It helped make me a visual person in terms of recognizing motifs and themes. I like to say I studied at the Disneyland School of Style." It's no surprise, then, that the ...
As Disneyland Prepares For Star Wars Land It Is Saving Trees That Could Be In The Way
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Since the preparation for "Star Wars" land started at Disneyland, the sound of chainsaws can be heard around the northern end of Disneyland's Rivers of America, and when they are silent, the sounds of workers digging with shovels take over. The chainsaws are removing trees in the way of the new land where the work started in January. The shovels are digging up trees Imagineers want to transplant into ...
As Disneyland Turns 56, Walt Disney's Daughter Reminisces
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Imagine growing up in a family surrounded by cartoon characters, a miniature steam train, Academy Awards and theme parks. Diane Disney Miller did. Her dad was Walt Disney. "He was always fun to be with him to walk around with him was fun," Miller said. While their father was a workaholic, one day a week was her and sister Sharon's day. "He would pick us up at Sunday school, then ...
Back To The Old West
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If it was in the West, it's here. The Mark Twain Riverboat docks at the aptly named Mark Twain Landing in Frontierland. The first train ride, apart from the Disneyland Railroad, was the Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland, opening in 1960; the Mine Train closed in 1977, and Big Thunder Mountain opened two years later. The two rides could not be more different. The Mine Train was a slow, relaxing ride ...
Baymax To Fly Over Castle During New Fireworks Show
A massive Baymax figure in winged armor from “Big Hero 6” will fly over Sleeping Beauty Castle during the new “Wondrous Journeys” fireworks show coming to Disneyland for the Disney100 anniversary celebrating a century of Disney animation. Baymax will soar high above the Disneyland castle during the new nighttime spectacular in a thrilling moment of heroism “inspiring us all to fight for our ...
