A Date With Disney
The date had not been going at all well. Normally, Katie loved Disneyland. But, with Josh, her date, complaining the whole time, she felt herself going bonkers. While he was great when they were about ten yards away from getting on the rides, the rest was just a spout of anti-Disney prattle. More often than not, she found herself spacing out, typically remembering the times she had gone there while ...
A Diamond Celebration In Sardineland
It had been three or four years since I had last been to Disneyland. But, on May 22, my mother and I went, just the two of us. That day was the opening day, for lack of a better term, of the park's Diamond celebration. As a part of that, the parks were open for 24 hours, closing at 6 A.M. on May 23 for a few hours. Rather inadvertently, we ended up parking in the "Toy Story" parking lot instead of ...
A Family Trip To The Disney Family Museum
I have been looking forward to the opening of the Disney Family Museum for a long time. When I first got wind of it, I immediately e-mailed the curator who informed me I had about 3 years to wait. What, 3 years! I want it now! So I waited, bided my time, checked in at the museum site every couple of weeks to read about the progress. When I thought I could not take it any longer, Bam, they opened up, and I ...
A Special Kind Of Weird
Howard Johnson 's Anaheim branch hotel is less than half a mile from the Disneyland Resort, a roughly 8 minute walk. The hotel also has a webcam pointing at various spots at the Resort. The main spots are in Disneyland, with the Matterhorn acting as Sleeping Beauty Castle, so to speak, having the whole mountain and a zoom in on one of the Bobsleds. The mountain is featured prominently in the overview of ...
A Sprinkle Of Pixie Dust
"Fantasyland" is said to be Walt Disney's favorite Land. And it's tough to blame him. "Sleeping Beauty Castle" welcomes you, as both the main entrance and park icon. "King Arthur Carrousel" was built in 1875 and operated in Ontario, Canada from 1922 until 1955 when it was relocated to Disneyland. Until 1975, only one horse was white, and now all of them are. Merlin hosted a ceremony that determined which ...
A Walk In Jenna's Shoes
As pass holders to Disneyland I know there are times when we get a bit tired of the park when we have experienced the same rides and attractions for the millionth time around. If you have been reading any of past articles, you know how I feel about the subject. When I get these feelings I usually stay away from the park until I have to go back, and when I say "have to go back" I mean I literally "Have to ...
Adventure Awaits
When "Adventureland" was first conceived, it was to be based on Walt's award winning documentaries on Africa and Asia. "Jungle Cruise" was the star attraction until "Swiss Family Treehouse" opened in 1962. The inspiration for the "Jungle Cruise" includes the True-Life Adventure documentary, "The African Lion" and the film, "The African Queen" (the name for the Land was to be "True-Life Adventureland" ...
Another Fantastic Dream
Fantasmic! Will forever be my favorite Disney Park show. So, when I heard that the show was getting an upgrade on effects and scenes, as one might be able to imagine, I was happy about the new effects and iffy about the new scenes, especially when I heard that "Peter pan" would be replaced with "Pirates of the Carribean." Believe me, "Pirates" is one of the best movies ever made, but come on, leave the ...
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 ...
Beignets Pirates And Ghosts Oh My
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When New Orleans Square opened in July of 1966, the mayor of New Orleans, Victor Schiro, participated in the dedication. Schiro announced that Disney was an honorary citizen of the real city and joked that adding the Square cost as much as the original Louisiana Purchase. The dedication was Walt's last public appearance before his death that December. There are two actual rides in the New Orleans ...
California vs. Blackpool: Alice In Wonderland
In my main article this month I compared selected references to Disney's 1951 animated movie Alice in Wonderland found within the Magic Kingdoms in California and Paris. In one particular section of my article, I compared Anaheim's dark ride (with the same name as the film) to Alice's Curious Labyrinth in Paris. However, there is a similar attraction to the former in Pleasure Beach, Blackpool (the ...
California vs. Blackpool: General
Earlier in the year, I wrote an article for DLDHistory.com comparing the Alice in Wonderland ride in Disneyland to Alice's Wonderland at Pleasure Beach Blackpool (the most visited theme park in the United Kingdom). As I have recently come back from a week's vacation in Blackpool (and seeing as my main article this month was shorter than usual) I thought I would compare Anaheim's Disneyland Resort as a ...
California vs. Paris: Adventureland
This month, I shall be comparing the Adventurelands found in the two Disneyland parks closest to my heart (California and Paris). Standing in front of the castle, with your back to Main Street, U.S.A./World Bazaar, the first land you encounter clockwise in four of the five Magic Kingdoms is Adventureland. Internet rumors abound that in Shanghai, Adventureland will take up the ...
California vs. Paris: Alice In Wonderland
In the seventh of my series comparing the two Disneylands closest to my heart (California and Paris), I shall be looking at selected references to Disney's 1951 animated movie Alice in Wonderland within the parks. The best place to start is perhaps the "Teacups ride", officially known as Mad Tea Party (MTP) in California, and Mad Hatter's Tea Cups (MHTC) in Paris. Both were opening day attractions, ...
California vs. Paris: Animation
This month, as part of my mini-series of articles comparing Disney California Adventure (DCA) to Walt Disney Studios Park (WDSP) in Paris, I will be looking at the animation buildings. In WDSP, the attraction is called Art of Disney Animation whereas in DCA the equivalent is simply called Disney Animation Building. Both were opening day attractions, and both share elements with the Florida equivalent ...
California vs. Paris: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
The description in the Disneyland Paris park map for Big Thunder Mountain tells you that riders will "Hurl through an abandoned gold mine at breathtaking speed aboard a runaway mine train!" making this attraction one of only two within this park to have a blurb ending in an exclamation mark. (The other is Star Tours). Although I do not necessarily believe that the mine is supposed to be abandoned ...
California vs. Paris: Casey Jr. Circus Train
In the sixth of my series comparing the two Disneylands closest to my heart (California and Paris), I shall be looking at the section of the park featuring Casey Jr. Circus Train and Storybook Land Canal Boats. When designing the Anaheim park, Walt's original plan for this area of Fantasyland was to build a rollercoaster called Rock Candy Mountain, upon which guests were transported on Casey Jr. style ...
California vs. Paris: Disney Junior - Live On Stage
This month, as part of my mini-series of articles comparing Disney California Adventure to Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris, I will be looking at Disney Junior - Live on Stage! Both of these replaced a thematically similar attraction called Playhouse Disney - Live on Stage! which in turn replaced an opening day feature. In California, this was the ABC Soap Opera Bistro (a restaurant themed to daytime ...
California vs. Paris: Dumbo
In the fifth of my series comparing the two Disneylands closest to my heart (California and Paris), I shall be looking at selected references to the 1941 movie Dumbo within the parks. Please note, I am specifically referring to the Dumbo paraphernalia within the Magic Kingdoms, rather than anything related which can be found in the hotels, the other parks (such as in Off The Page and World of Color at ...
California vs. Paris: Fantasyland
My articles so far, in which I have compared the two Disneylands closest to my heart (California and Paris), have focused on individual attractions found in Fantasyland. This month, after previewing what I shall be writing for the site in the future, I shall be looking at any aspect of Fantasyland which does not fit into any of my other articles (past or future). As well as the attractions covered in ...
California vs. Paris: Fantasyland Shops
This article shall finish off my series of comparisons between the Fantasylands of the Disneylands closest to my heart (California and Paris) by looking at the shops found in that Land. The shops in the Paris Fantasyland are La Bottega di Geppetto (Geppetto's Shop), La Boutique du Chateau (The Castle Shop), La Chaumiere des Sept Nains (The Seven Dwarfs' Cottage), La Confiserie des Trois Fees (The ...
California vs. Paris: Frontierland
Looking back at the articles I have written comparing the two Disneylands closest to my heart (California and Paris) I realize that the only Land in the Paris version of Disneyland Park which I haven't covered in any detail yet is Frontierland. [The only elements of this Land I have looked at, to date, are Tom Sawyer Island and the Railroad]. With regards to Anaheim, I also haven't covered Critter ...
California vs. Paris: Frontierland (Part Two)
In Anaheim, Frontierland has five very distinct shops (Bonanza Outfitters, Pioneer Mercantile, Silver Spur, The Spirit of Pocahontas Shop and Westward Ho Trading Company) whereas there is really only one store in the Frontierland of Disneyland Paris. This is the Thunder Mesa Mercantile Building, although it is split into three separate parts: Tobias Norton & Sons, Bonanza Outfitters and Eureka Mining ...
California vs. Paris: It's A Small World
This month, in my article comparing the two Disneylands closest to my heart (California and Paris), I shall be looking at "it's a small world", the ride which according to Walt Disney Imagineering's international Ambassador Marty Sklar- has a "song [which] will drive you bananas if you hear it often enough, but from a message standpoint is a timeless attraction". Both versions of the attraction ...
California vs. Paris: It's A Small World -- At Christmas
In an article for this very site, published August 2011, I discussed the it's a small world attractions in the Disneylands in Anaheim and Paris, mentioning that at "a more seasonal time of year" I would take a look at how their festive overlays compare. For Christmas, both versions have placed a Santa hat on the Gregory S. Marinello-designed clock, but to the untrained eye, this seems to be the only ...
California vs. Paris: Park Two, Cars And Armageddon
For my next few articles comparing the Disneyland resorts closest to my heart (Anaheim and Paris), I am going to focus on comparing some of the attractions in the non-castle parks: Disney California Adventure (DCA) and Walt Disney Studios Park (WDSP). Although some of the shops, eateries, meet and greets, and photo ops in WDSP have equivalents in DCA (and/or elsewhere in the world), none are of enough note ...
California vs. Paris: Peter Pan
In the fourth of my series comparing the two Disneylands closest to my heart (California and Paris), I shall be looking at Peter Pan's Flight. When I mention California's Peter Pan's Flight in this article, I am referring only to its current post-1983-refurb version, which added the interior queue-line, a Peter Pan audio-animatronic, the pirate-ship deck scene and the "return from Neverland" finale. ...
California vs. Paris: Pinocchio
In the third of a monthly series of comparisons between the two Disneylands closest to my heart (California and Paris), I will be looking at the rides, shops and eateries based on Pinocchio. In California, the ride is called Pinocchio's Daring Journey (as it is in Japan), whereas in Paris, it is called Les Voyages de Pinocchio which translates literally as The Journeys of Pinocchio. For the benefit ...
California vs. Paris: Pirates of the Caribbean and Blue Bayou
This month, I shall be comparing the versions of the Pirates of the Caribbean found in the Disneyland parks closest to my heart (California and Paris). The Californian of Pirates of the Caribbean (POTC) can be found in New Orleans Square (NOS), was the first attraction of its kind worldwide when it opened in 1967 and was the last attraction Walt was thought to have personally worked on. The Paris ...
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 ...
California vs. Paris: Snow White
In the second of a monthly series of comparisons between the two Disneylands' closest to my heart (California and Paris), I will be looking at the rides based on Snow White. In California, the ride is called Snow White's Scary Adventures whereas in Paris, it is called Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains which translates literally as Snow White and The Seven Dwarves. For the benefit of this article, I ...