America Sings Articles
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 ...
Girl Employe Killed At Disneyland
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Summertime employe Deborah Gail Stone, 18 was crushed to death Monday night at Disneyland's new $6 million attraction "America Sings."
The 5 - foot 2 - inch brunette was caught between a stationary and moving wall as an outer ring of six theaters rotate like a merry-go-round past a central, fixed inner stage.
The attraction, which opened June 29, was closed indefinitely while Disneyland ...
Spider Man To Join Fellow Superheroes At Disneyland
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Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is coming Disneyland.
As part of the theme park's Super Hero HQ attraction opening Nov. 16 in Tomorrowland, a Spider-Man character will join other Marvel superheroes, including Thor and Iron Man, to pose for pictures and sign autographs with park visitors, the theme park has announced.
The bad news is that Captain America won't be at Spider-Man's side.
...
Dangerous Disneyland Mental Fatigue Part 1
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Disneyland gets sued for injuries and deaths all of the time. Believe me, I get that accidents happen, but most of these tourists are simply victims of their own stupidity. Mild disclaimer: a few of these I've read about on only one site, so I'm not entirely sure they happened. Now, let's get down to business.
Matterhorn, Space, and Thunder Mountains are not most dangerous in that respect, ...
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 ...
This Is How Disneyland Looked In The 1970s
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The seventies at Disneyland started with an invasion, then went into space, and ended with a wild ride in the frontier.
Unfortunately for Disneyland, the riots that had been happening in cities across America during the latter half of the sixties and some of the protesters turned their attention to Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom. On Aug. 6, 1970, the Yippies (an offshoot of the hippies of the sixties) ...
This Is How Disneyland Changed In The 1980s
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Changes at Disneyland in the 1980s started slow, then ended in a splash down a mountain.
During the first couple years of the decade, Disney Imagineers were busy with the design and building of Epcot Center (as it was called then) at Walt Disney World. But they were also planning a project for Disneyland - rebuilding Fantasyland.
1980-83
In early 1982, most of Fantasyland was behind a ...
Todays Future
During the rush of getting the Park constructed, "Tomorrowland" was the last land finished. Budget cuts didn't allow all of its attractions to be opened that first day. One of those cuts was to use the "Nautilus" sets from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" as a walk-through. When it closed in 1966, the organ belonging to Captain Nemo was moved to the ballroom of the "Haunted Mansion." For the first four ...
Hunny In The Briar Patch
"Critter Country" was originally called the "Indian Village." Until 1971, that section of Frontierland contained Native American shows and attractions. The following year, it became "Bear Country," the first major expansion since the "Haunted Mansion" and cost $8 million. "Bear Country" was themed like the forest of the Pacific North-West. The centerpiece attraction was "Country Bear Jamboree" and was also ...
9 Ghosts That Reportedly Haunt Disney Parks From Urban Legends To Actual Events In The Parks History
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In 1955, something spectacular happened: Disneyland opened in Anaheim, Calif., forever changing the face of amusement parks in America. Given its long and storied history, of course, it's to be expected that over the years, rumors that ghosts allegedly haunt Disneyland, as well as Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. And all the other Disney properties that have opened in the intervening decades, would have ...
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 ...
Greetings From Disneyland
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If Imagineers David Mumford and Bruce Gordon have gained fame among Disney fans, it may be because they haven't forgotten their roots. Gordon spent his childhood building Disneyland models in his garage and went on to become a show producer on the park's new Autopia. Mumford, meanwhile, filled his early years with Disney memorabilia and worked his way up to his current stint as art director for the Mermaid ...
California's Disneyland
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Disneyland, the country's first truly big-time theme park, is located 27 miles southeast of Los Angeles in Anaheim. When the park opened in 1955, Walt Disney promised it would get bigger and better. Well, Disneyland is celebrating its 25th birthday this year, with a spectacle of special happenings. In fact, you may want to check into what's on tap when and schedule your visit accordingly. But whenever you ...
Disneyland Remains Forever Young
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The last time I went to Disneyland I got to drive the jeep in the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ride. Unfortunately, my family disobeyed instructions and looked into the eye of the idol, so we were condemned to a terrifying adventure before finally returning safely to the loading dock.
The sense of triumph I derived from what was a predictable outcome far exceeded its intrinsic worth and makes ...
With The Future Set In 1986, Tomorrowland Had To Change
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In announcing a renovation of Disneyland's Tomorrowland, Walt Disney Co. imagineers acknowledged that men on the moon, home computers and time had caught up to the land, one of the five original areas in the 42-year-old-park.
When Disneyland opened, "1986 sounded very futuristic," said Tony Baxter, senior vice president-creative development for Disney's imagineering unit.
Among the rides and ...
Discovering Disneyland
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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 ...
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 ...
5 Disneyland Secrets That Nobody Knows
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If you're heading to Disneyland this summer, you can increase your knowledge and impress your traveling companions by sharing these 5 little-known secrets from the park. So without further ado:
1. The Disneyland "Test Bricks"
If you are heading down Main Street toward Sleeping Beauty Castle, take a quick right toward the locker rentals. There, just to the right of the entrance to the lockers, ...
Five Ghostly Disneyland Urban Legends
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You know, being a ghost stuck at Disneyland doesn't sound all that bad. It's better than haunting some family in Texas, right?
Like any place with a rich history, Disneyland's got its fair share of urban legends and myths surrounding it--take the cryogenically frozen head of Unky Walt for an example--but cast members and guests alike have reported over the years certain encounters with certain ghouls ...
Innoventions
I 've never been on the Carousel of Progress, though goodness knows I get the theme song stuck in my head easily enough. In fact, I 've just done it to myself. I did go on America Sings, quite a few times in my childhood. I liked it and was disappointed when it closed. Then for years, that building stood mostly empty-except the Futuristic World of TRON in its upper story, of course. It was taking up ...
Disney Reveals Rides That Never Happened
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A moon-walking, animatronic Michael Jackson. A uranium exhibit. A crocodile aquarium inside the mouth of a big crocodile model.
All were attractions that Disney creators dreamed up. But they never made it into Disneyland.
Disney presented rare pictures and concepts of Disneyland rides that never came true during a presentation at a Disney fan club event Saturday.
D23, the official Disney fan ...
Disneyland's Splash Mountain Set To Close Until May
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Disneyland is set Tuesday to close Splash Mountain for about four months during a major rehabilitation project, according to the Disneyland website.
Disney usually refurbishes big rides about once every five to 10 years. Splash Mountain is next on the calendar, said John McClintock, a Disneyland Resort spokesman, earlier this month.
Crews plans to spruce up the waterway and scenes, but no major ...
Bill Justice, Walt Disney Studios Animator Worked On Fantasia And Bambi
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Bill Justice, a former Walt Disney Studios animator who worked on classics such as "Fantasia," "Bambi" and "Alice in Wonderland" and later joined Walt Disney Imagineering where he helped program Audio-Animatronics figures for attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, died Thursday, a day after he turned 97.
Justice died of natural causes in a nursing home in Santa Monica, said Ted King, a ...
Can You Name All 15 Eticket Rides Still At Disneyland It Is Not As Easy As You Think
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As Disneyland celebrates the 60th anniversary of the E-ticket, it seems like a good time to look back at the rides that earned that distinction at the Anaheim theme park.
But what are the E-ticket rides of Disneyland? Naming them all is not as simple as you might think.
There were 23 E-ticket attractions during the ticket book era that stretched from 1955 to 1982, according to ...
18 Disneyland Attractions Parades And Fireworks Shows That Closed This Decade
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Walt Disney famously said that Disneyland would never be complete as long as there was imagination left in the world and that adage held true during the past decade as a host of attractions departed for Yesterland.
Let 's take a chronological look at 18 Disneyland attractions, parades and fireworks shows that closed in the 2010s to make way for new or updated experiences.
2010 - ...
Disney Parks Princess And The Frog Redo Of Splash Mountain Gets Name And Launch Date
Back in 2020 Disney announced that its popular (but highly controversial) attraction Splash Mountain would get an overlay, this time themed to “Princess and the Frog,” its 2009 animated feature that starred the studio 's first African American Princess, Tiana (voiced memorably by Anika Noni Rose).
Now the company has finally announced some details, chiefly that the attraction 's new name will ...
What Does New Disney Vacation Club Lounge Mean For The Future Of Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland will be home to Disneyland 's first Disney Vacation Club member lounge when the timeshare perk opens next year in unused “space” in a perpetual white elephant building - but what does that mean for any makeover plans for the futuristic themed land?
The Disney Vacation Club Star View Station will open in the first half of 2023 on the second floor of the Star Wars: Launch Bay ...
Disneyland Sets Splash Mountain Closing Date Releases New Concept Art For Tianas Bayou Adventure
Disneyland 's Splash Mountain - the famed log flume ride whose imagery is rooted in the dated and racist 1946 film “Song of the South” - has an end date. Guests will have their final chance to plunge a five-story drop through a briar patch on May 30, giving Disneyland attendees one last busy Memorial Day weekend to experience the attraction in its current form.
But the imaginative water-based ...
How Much Can You Afford We Asked Experts How To Fix Disneyland
When Disney CEO Bob Chapek was fired in November 2022, and previous CEO Bob Iger was reinstated for a temporary two-year term, fans were overjoyed. Iger was widely perceived as a beloved steward of the company 's - and Walt Disney 's - original vision. The cost-cutting, increased prices, sacrificing of quality and indefinable “loss of magic” that many complained about would come to an end.
...
Disneyland To Open Exclusive Retro Futuristic Tomorrowland Lounge Here Is How To Get In
Disney Vacation Club members will be whisked away to a retro-futuristic Space Age vision of tomorrow when an exclusive new lounge opens in a long-underused Tomorrowland space at Disneyland ahead of the debut of a new DVC timeshare tower later this year.
The Disney Vacation Club Star View Station member lounge inspired by Walt Disney 's optimistic vision for the future will open on Wednesday, ...
The Great Big Beautiful History And Legacy Of Walt Disneys Carousel Of Progress 50 Years After It Left
As a West Coast resident, I have been to Disneyland far more times than I have been to Walt Disney World. As such, when I find myself in Magic Kingdom, while there are a lot of subtle differences between the two similar parks, I always find myself veering towards Tomorrowland first. The reasons are two special attractions you can find there that were once residents of Disneyland, but can no longer be found ...
