Sleeping Beauty Castle Articles
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 ...
California vs. Paris:Carrousels And Sword In The Stone Ceremony
This month, I shall continue my series comparing the two Disneylands closest to my heart (California and Paris) by looking at the carousels. In California, this is called King Arthur Carrousel, whereas the Paris equivalent is called Le Carrousel de Lancelot. Both are situated directly behind the Castle, although the California equivalent did not line up with Main Street properly until the 1983 ...
Disneyland Memories
Two months ago, I was warned that my article for the July issue would be about my first memories of Disneyland. I knew from the outset how hard this would be. If I had been asked about my first visit to Florida's Magic Kingdom this would be easy. It was November 18th 1988, which was Mickey's 60th birthday. I could write reams about my memories: the parades; my first trip on a monorail; finding ...
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 ...
Disneyland Rolls Out New Audio Guide For Blind Visitors
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Main Street is busy and noisy. It's packed with people, strolling by the classic old-time storefronts. Horse-drawn trolleys and old jalopies carry camera-clad visitors. If you're blind, it's hard to tell what's going on. That's why the Disneyland today unveiled a free, handheld audio device, which uses GPS to trigger descriptions of the park's outdoor areas. "The central plaza near Sleeping Beauty ...
First Visit To Disneyland: Unforgettable
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For many years, Disneyland which celebrated its 56th anniversary this past July 17 was a place we thought we might never see. Since 1972, we were "regulars" at Walt Disney World, yet Disneyland was as far away in distance as it was in our travel plans. We finally broke down and made it to The Happiest Place on Earth in Anaheim, Calif., in late July, 1998, some 43 years after Walt Disney's fabled ...
Disneyland Tour Follows Walt Disney's Journey
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A tour of Disneyland from the perspective of Walt Disney ends with the guide quoting a newspaper article describing Disney's success as a "product of luck." The 180-minute tour, titled "A Walk in Walt's Footsteps," shows that Disney's rise from a struggling animator to Academy Award-winning filmmaker and creator of the most famous theme park in the world had little to do with luck. The guided ...
Storm In A Teacup
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With a boy of his own, Stephen Lacey makes his first visit to the Disneyland of his childhood. When I was a boy, my idea of Disneyland was pretty sketchy; it was where Mickey and Donald lived. And there was a ride where you sat in a giant spinning teacup. I knew only one kid who had been, a boy in third class named Brian. He was terribly thin, with bruises all over his body. One day our ...
Move Over Mickey Disneyland's Princesses Are Getting New Digs
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Sleeping Beauty and company will be moving to a new Disneyland hangout. Come 2013, the princesses will have their own storybook village, dubbed Fantasy Faire, to call home. The princesses have been holding their meet-and-greets in the Fantasyland Theatre since 2006. Construction is expected to begin this fall on the re-imagined princess experience built up around this venue. According to ...
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: Main Street USA
This month, I shall be comparing the Main Street, U.S.A.'s which can be found in the Disneylands closest to my heart (California and Paris). Both are based loosely on Walt's home town of Marceline Missouri. Anaheim's is set in 1910, as part of the original idea that various Lands were set in years when Halley's Comet could be visible from Earth. According to themed studs in the pavement, Main Street ...
Disneyland Resort Offers Plenty Of New Attractions
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The self-proclaimed "happiest place on Earth" is about to become a whole lot happier. When Disneyland Resort's new 12-acre Cars Land opens in time for next summer's tourist blitz, it will represent the latest achievement in the world of "imagineering" a word that was coined to emphasize the imagination of Disney engineers. Presently under construction in the Disney California Adventure park, ...
Disneyland It All Started With A Mouse
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Who wants sugar in their tea? The Mad Hatter asked. Everyone cheered. It is at this moment when I realised the greatest thing for the 'little traveller' was the parks unique way to bring treasured favourites to life, such as a favoured classic, Alice in wonderland. Many years on from its opening on 17 July 1955, Walt Disney's theme park has sparked the imagination and captured the hearts of thousands ...
Environmental Group Files Suit Against The Happiest Place On Earth
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Minnie's House, the Haunted Mansion and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride are all attractions families may want to avoid during their next Disneyland adventure, according to an environmental group alleging the California theme park is riddled with attractions that can expose children to potentially dangerous levels of lead. The Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation filed an injunction Tuesday to require the park ...
Elephant Returns To Disney's Jungle Cruise
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The most-feared animal in Disneyland's jungle has reclaimed her throne inside the Jungle Cruise. The female African bull elephant, affectionately called "Mother-in-Law" by employees, re-emerged on the banks of the ride's Nile River earlier this month after a four-month absence for refurbishment and cleaning. In June, the figure, which weighs more than a ton, was airlifted out of the Jungle ...
One Republic At Disneyland: Performance For New Year's 2012
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Happy New Year! Ah, wait a minute, it's still November, right? Well, it might be on the calendar but the band of One Republic was at the Disneyland Resort on Saturday celebrating Rockin Eve 2012 with a crowd of New Year's Eve fans who found themselves celebrating the New Year prematurely. The band, on a picture perfect stage in front of the castle at Disneyland, definitely gave a perfect performance ...
Holiday Season Opens For Disneyland Today
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People dressed as reindeer rehearse their dance moves and work crews in cherry-pickers add lights to Sleeping Beauty Castle as the Disneyland Resort prepares for the holiday season. Each year, Disney's theme parks, hotels and Downtown Disney undergo a transformation that begins right after the last visitor clears the gates from Disneyland's Mickey's Halloween parties on Oct. 31. Over two weeks, ...
Rain, Rain Stay Away At Least 'Til Sunday
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I'm counting on the rain to hold off until at least Sunday so I can get to Disneyland this weekend, the first with the park decked out for the holidays. I want to get in there before the Thanksgiving and then Christmas crowds arrive. If you have never been, no kidding, it's the most amazing time to go. Especially if you're like me and sometimes have a hard time getting into the holiday spirit. ...
Tips For Taking The Kids To Disneyland During The Holidays
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Every year, Disneyland magically transforms into a winter wonderland for families to enjoy. There are almost 700 festively-decorated trees located throughout the park, including the popular one at the beginning of Main Street. Guests can enjoy visiting Santa Claus and even get a rare opportunity to see live reindeer in Frontierland. The holiday times at Disneyland are sure to whisk you and your ...
Merry Holidays At Disneyland
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The magic of the holiday season is made all that more magical with cheap flights to Disneyland. Disney goes all out to create a winter wonderland at Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure theme parks. Expect holiday-themed attractions and parades, decadent decorations and sweet treats, and even snow at this popular sunny Anaheim, California tourist destination. Two rides are given a complete ...
Christmas At Disneyland Is Busy But Still Magical
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Disneyland at Christmas Time is even more magical It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas and if the kids stayed off the naughty list they might just get lucky enough to be screaming "I'm going to Disneyland!" As the parents, brace yourself for a busy trip. I was there last week and it's already in full holiday mode. Here are a few hints to make the trip an enjoyable memory. The parks are ...
Tips For Dealing With Holiday Crowds At Disney Parks
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Disneyland Resort parks can get jam packed, even filling to capacity, during the weeks around Christmas. It especially gets busy after Christmas Day when tourists flock to town. Read a story about Disney holiday crowds. Here are some ways to deal with the crowds: 1. Get there early: Disneyland opens at 8 a.m. and Disney California Adventure opens at 10 a.m. in the coming weeks. But lines ...
Five Unique Artifacts From Disneyland's Opening That Remain At The Park
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A lot has changed at Disneyland since the park first opened in 1955. Over the nearly six decades that have passed since its debut, many things at the Happiest Place on Earth have either been lost over time or met with a wrecking ball during one of the park's many expansions and refurbishments. We list five original Disneyland artifacts that existed in the park back when Walt walked Main Street, ...
7 Tips For Tackling Disneyland In A Day
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I've been to Disneyland hundreds of times over the last two decades and have been writing the Funland theme park blog for about four years now. As a result, people are always asking me how to do everything at Disneyland in a single day. The short answer is you probably can't. It can be a struggle for even hard-core fans with military assault-like strategies. The longer answer is there's lots of ways ...
24 Consecutive Hours In Disneyland
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Normally, I'm quite neurotic about thoroughly planning Disneyland trips. Normally, I plan my trips in advance to fall during less-crowded times of year, I make reservations for the best Disneyland restaurants and I find hotel and airfare deals for my anticipated travel dates. However, when Disney announced on New Year's Eve that Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Florida ...
New Pixar Character Coming To Disneyland
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A character from Pixar's upcoming movie will begin greeting visitors at Disneyland a month before she appears on the big screen. Merida, the lead character in "Brave," will arrive in mid-May at Disneyland, Disney has announced. "Brave" opens in theaters June 22. See concept art of the Merida greeting area. The movie is set in the Scottish Highlands where Merida, a princess and skilled archer, ...
Disneyland Moves Entertainment To Frontierland
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Disneyland next month is moving outside performing groups and adding a new entertainment feature to a normally closed area of Frontierland. The Disney Performing Arts program will host community performing groups and run education sessions in the Festival Arena, which is normally closed in the back of Frontierland. The program is moving after the May 1 closure of Carnation Plaza Gardens, where ...
Grown-Up Gals Have Fun Like Kids But Without Kids At Disneyland
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Disneyland is not just for sugar-soaked kids. Consider, all you grown-up women out there, going for a gals' day out. That's exactly what my childhood friend Joanna and I, both of us in our 30s, recently did instead of heading to the beach or shopping. Did we channel our inner princesses? Nope. Did we regress to a state of childlike delight and strategically map out rides to conquer? Oh yes. That ...
Mitt Somebody
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While in California attending my nephew's high-school graduation, I acted on a whim and decided to divert to Disneyland. I have been to Walt Disney World in Florida several times but had not actually been to Disneyland since I was six years old. Blessed with a great memory for things in the past, that amazing day spent at Disney in the '50s came racing back as I walked through the park. In addition ...
Party With Mickey While Saving On Disneyland Admission
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It may be July still, but Disneyland is already planning its holidays and this week posted its invitation for all to Mickey's Halloween Party at Disneyland. And the best part about this "party" is the admission price$54 to $69 per person, depending on which night you attend the event. Tickets are for Disneyland only, but offer a savings of up to $35 per person. The event happens from either 6 ...
8 Memory Keepers To Pick Up At Disneyland & Almost ALL Under 10 Dollars
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I dare you to go to Disneyland and not buy at least one souvenir on your visit. Unless you work there or are a season pass holder who drops by whenever you please, odds are you will pick something up to help you remember the "magical" time you had. Me, I'd like to take the entire park home with me, but that just wouldn't be practical. Instead my family picks up a little this or a little that some sort of ...
