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 ...

The final stop on my lovely tour of Disneyland, at least until "Star Wars Land" is completed, is the entrance to the entire park. Said to be inspired by Walt's hometown of Marceline, Missouri, "Main Street, U.S.A" is designed to look like the idealized center of a town at around 1910. One of the designers, Harper Goff, showed Walt some pictures of his childhood home in Colorado and Walt liked the ...

As its 50th Anniversary celebration continues in full swing, the Disneyland Resort has been transformed into a dazzling holiday wonderland (now through January 2) featuring an unbelievable array of spectacular entertainment, amazing decorations, festive foods and favorite adventures and attractions. The fun is extended with expanded park hours for Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure for much ...

Famed robot statesman Mr. Lincoln will be pulled out of mothballs and put back on stage at the Main Street Opera House in Disneyland sometime later this year. The attraction will reopen in celebration of the 200th anniversary year of Abraham Lincoln's birth - he was born on Feb. 12, 1809. "The Disneyland Story, featuring Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln," will be a new version of the show with the ...

Despite persistent Internet rumors to the contrary, "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" will return in late 2009 to a renovated Disneyland Opera House with an "all-new" audio-animatronic show. Disneyland is billing Lincoln's return as a 200th anniversary celebration of the 16th president's birth, which passed two weeks ago. Lincoln's resurrection is sure to please Disneyland purists who bemoaned the ...

Disney art fans will have a new place to see displays and buy merchandise after a two-year absence at Disneyland. The Disney Gallery is set to re-open Friday at the former Bank of Main Street building near Disneyland's entrance. The gallery had sat above the Pirates of the Caribbean ride until 2007 when it was closed for construction of the Disneyland Dream Suite. The gallery opened in 1987 to ...

Disney was inspired a half-century ago to build a special amusement park in California-a place where adults and children would be amazed by a tropical forest, astonished by a fairy tale castle and astounded by sights of the space age. Disney, a man of creativity, talent and perseverance, ran a successful movie studio where he put in a lot of hours. He also was father to two young girls and, as he once ...

Here's what's new for Disneyland's 50th anniversary, an event being celebrated at Disney parks around the world starting this weekend. All attractions are at Disneyland, unless otherwise noted. 50 Magical Years: Exhibit and film about how Disneyland was created. Open daily in the Opera House. Parade of Dreams: Seven floats, huge puppets, 104 performers; 4 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. "Remember ... ...

Disneyland, an oasis of niceness in a cynical world wracked by terrorism, war and scandal, celebrates its 50th anniversary on May 5. And what a birthday party it promises to be: 18 months of "the Happiest Homecoming on Earth", starring every Disney character you know, from Mickey Mouse to Mary Poppins. Julie Andrews, who won the best-actress Oscar for her role in Disney's classic 1964 Mary ...

Backed by the sound of trumpets, the release of doves and the explosion of fireworks, Julie Andrews stood before Sleeping Beauty Castle Thursday to kick off Disneyland's 18-month birthday celebration. Andrews, dressed in a white suit, stood with Dakota Sandak, who has appeared in a Disney commercial, and said, "Do it together, one, two, Welcome Home!" Art Linkletter, on hand during the park's ...

Aaah, summer. Backyard barbecues, playing outdoors, days at the beach. And as the weather heats up, so do the new thrills at Southern California theme parks. Aat Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, visitors can go into the deep with a special exhibit charting the course of the blue whale. Disneyland, as practically everyone knows, is celebrating its 50th anniversary with new rides, ...

You have to look quickly, and you have to know exactly where to look. But if you do, you'll catch a pretty cool inside joke at Disneyland. On the Star Tours ride, just before your runaway Starspeeder exits the space station, keep your eye on the lower right side of the screen: You flash past what looks like a giant electron microscope. Old-timers will recognize it as the Mighty Microscope from ...

A half-dozen new or revitalized attractions will be unveiled May 4: Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters: Piloting individual Space Cruisers in Tomorrowland, riders fire laser cannons at targets to protect outer space from the evil forces of Emperor Zurg. Total scores appear in the Space Cruiser at the end of each ride. But get this: Via the Internet, at-home participants can team up with in-park riders to ...

The 50th anniversary bash will last for 18 months -- long enough to give every Disney fan on the planet a chance to attend the party. Most of these changes will premiere May 5 (that's 05/05/05 for numerical emphasis): * A new parade, ``Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams,'' will feature floats that become mini-stage shows, music and more than 50 Disney characters. Performances twice a day, once in the ...

Disneyland kicked off its "Happiest Celebration on Earth" Thursday, an 18-month-long event to commemorate its 50th birthday. The celebration pays tribute to Walt Disney's dream of Disneyland, the original park that launched a series of Disney theme parks around the world. "The dawn of the theme park industry rose from one man's dream as he walked Anaheim orange groves more than 50 years ago, and ...

A refurbished old standard, Space Mountain, and a new, high-tech interactive ride, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, will help Disneyland mark its 50th anniversary with a prolonged celebration. "If there is one year to be at Disneyland, this is it," said Disneyland Resort spokesman Tim O'Day, pitching events that will, in fact, run for 18 months. Some customers have been given sneak peeks of what's ...

Disneyland's golden anniversary party began Thursday and will run through Thanksgiving 2006. We asked Bee readers to share memories of the park's early days. Here's what they recalled. Pop on your golden mouse ears and take a trip back in time ... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My wife and I were married Sept. 25, 1955. During our honeymoon we ...

WHAT: "The Happiest Homecoming on Earth," the 50th anniversary celebration of the opening of Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. Anaheim is 27 miles south of Los Angeles and 100 miles north of San Diego. * WHEN: The 18-month fete begins May 5 and runs through October 2006, which means there's no rush to get there -- especially since Disney sources concede that, just like 50 years ago, not everything will ...

The 50th anniversary bash will last 18 months - long enough to give every Disney fan on the planet a chance to attend the party. Most of these changes will premiere Thursday (that's 05/05/05, a date Disneyland chose for numerical emphasis): * A new parade, "Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams," will feature floats that become mini-stage shows, music and more than 50 Disney characters. Performances ...

Disneyland is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a bang. A lot of them, actually. A pyrotechnic extravaganza is being unleashed nightly as the latest manifestation of the park's fireworks show, and it's an impressive one. As Disneyland pays homage to some of its most popular attractions down through the years, fireworks are not aimed straight into the sky but at angles, so as to resemble shooting ...

Disneyland is giving itself a 50th birthday bash and we're all invited. The party began on the fifth of May and my family and I visited on the eighth. When I passed through the turnstile, the employee greeted me with a hearty, "Welcome home," in keeping with the 50th Anniversary theme, "Happiest Homecoming on Earth." I did feel I was coming home, and I'm sure other guests had similar feelings. Disneyland ...

I had never been to Disneyland. When I was growing up, we watched "The Wonderful World of Disney" TV show and thought it looked like a magical place, but the idea of piling all seven of us into the 1953 Plymouth and heading for California was not something that occurred to us. I didn't even know anyone who lived in California, and in those days our few vacations were generally to see family and friends. ...