Disneyland And Imagineering Part 5
Last time we left off, opening day was rapidly approaching. Teams of artists were working in their respective areas and time truly was of the essence. The lifestyle in the mid-50s was a family oriented, hard working culture, with a new-found desire for excitement. World War II had been over for almost ten years and the subsequent opening of the park would be two years and several days after the Korean War ...
California vs. Paris: Village vs. Downtown
This month, I will be starting a series of articles comparing Downtown Disney in the California resort with Disney Village in Disneyland Paris. Both Downtown Disney and Disney Village serve similar purposes. As well as providing more places for Guests to spend money (and for longer hours, including after the parks have closed), they help turn the area into more of a "resort" rather than a place for a ...
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 ...
Disneyland And Imagineering Part 3
How to build an Amusement Park in 3 Easy Lessons When we last left our Imagineers, a final location had been chosen, funding had been arranged, and crews were assembled that would begin by retaining trees and vegetation that could be utilized in the design, and the vegetation that would have to be removed as a non-stop adventure was about to commence that would continue long after the park opened. (I ...
Merriest Place On Earth
"The Happiest Place on Earth" becomes all the more magical during the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. Tinsel and garland cover almost every inch of the already beautiful park. In 2006 they had a machine that produced many tiny bubbles grouped to make snowflakes. My mother has a picture of me dancing in them, somewhere. When the House of the Future was still there, a large, red ribbon would be placed ...
Disneyland And Imagineering Part 2
Did you know Walt Disney declared bankruptcy? It's true. Pre-Disney: The Roadside Attraction As I was putting together the material for this article in the series, I wanted to touch on a part of Americana that has significance. I enjoy reading and finding archival film to see how the amusement industry came into being, which was roughly 75 years prior to the opening of Disneyland. The ...
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 ...
Disneyland And Imagineering Part 1
There's no I in Team, but there are three in Imagineering. Introduction Well, it's not quite as long as the title from that 60's Mixed-Up Zombie movie, but it's close, and in my mind a lot more entertaining, and there's no corn or cheese here. Growing up a railroad kid, spending time with my father when he would go to work in the freight house or, even more exciting, the roundhouse, I can ...
Classic Disneyland
There is a site called Yesterland and it details all attractions that have closed, from the PeopleMover to the House of the Future, Main Street Electrical Parade to Carnation Ice Cream Parlor, as well as the seasonal Explorer's Canoes. Of the aforementioned attractions, House of the Future closed twenty years before I was born and that's the main one I've wanted to see. The pictures posted ...
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: Tower of Terror
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 Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Of the four versions of this attraction in the Disney parks worldwide, these two are by far the most similar. However, there are some very subtle differences. For example, the former is built out of steel, ...
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: Welcome Foolish Mortals -- Part Four
In the final section of my four-part comparison between California's Haunted Mansion (in its regular form, rather than its seasonal overlay) and France's Phantom Manor, I shall be looking at the post-ride section of the attraction. After the final scene of the ride, in which Guests see themselves in mirrors with a ghostly apparition joining them, the Doom Buggies take riders past a "Dead end" sign ...
California vs. Paris: Welcome Foolish Mortals -- Part Three
In part three of my four-part comparison between California's Haunted Mansion (in its regular form, rather than its seasonal overlay) and France's Phantom Manor, I shall be looking at the ride itself. Both versions use an Omnimover. In Paris this does not feature on-board audio. Other than this, the ride system for both is the same (even down to the self-lowering safety bars), but the visuals one ...
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: Welcome Foolish Mortals -- Part Two
In part two of my four-part comparison between California's Haunted Mansion (in its regular form, rather than its seasonal overlay) and France's Phantom Manor, I shall be looking at the first three rooms one encounters upon entering the building. All three rooms feature audio being played over music. In California, the audio was provided by Paul Frees as the Ghost Host. In France, this was provided by ...
Music is Magic
I don't even remember my first trip to Disneyland as a child. My first trip with my high school band, on the other hand, I do remember, if a little vaguely. Hey, I've been going since I was a kid, and even with my makeshift leash, all the wonderful memories have always tended to blend together. It was when I was a freshman in high school and we were to march down Main Street, something we did every year. ...
California vs. Paris: Welcome Foolish Mortals-- Part One
To conclude my series of articles comparing the two Disneylands closest to my heart (California and Paris), I shall be writing a four-part look at those rides in which hinges creak in doorless chambers, and strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls. In Paris, the equivalent of the Haunted Mansion is called Phantom Manor. Originally narrated by Vincent Price, the majority of the audio of ...
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: 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: 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 ...
Memories From The Mansion
It was August 1969 and I had just turned 9 the month before. Summer was rapidly coming to an end so, as a treat, my Dad let me go with my summer camp group on a day trip to the Magic Kingdom. We were scheduled to leave early the morning of the 12th which was a Tuesday. We would spend the entire day at the park and return early the morning of the 13th. Little did I know that this would be the most ...
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 ...
Disneyland: A Personal Perspective of a Dream Come True
I never thought I would get a chance to work at Disneyland. This was my life's' goal - to be a Cast Member. Growing up in the Southern California desert, we were close enough to get to visit Disneyland at least once a year. The 2-hour drive seemed to never end until I or my siblings could finally see the tip of Space Mountain from the freeway - we were there! I held onto the magic between visits, ...
California vs. Paris: The Lands of The Future - Part Three
This month I shall conclude my comparisons of California's Tomorrowland with Paris's Discoveryland, by looking at their versions of Autopia and Captain EO. Captain EO, the $30million 3-d musical starring Michael Jackson and Anjelica Huston, was an opening day attraction at Disneyland Paris, by which time the film had already been showing for five and a half years in the California Park and EPCOT ...
California vs. Paris: The Lands of The Future - Part Two
This month I shall continue my comparison of California's Tomorrowland with Paris's Discoveryland, by looking at their versions of Nautilus and Star Tours, as well as the two Lands' arcades, shows, theatres and eateries Les Mysteres du Nautilus at Disneyland Paris is nothing like the submarine attraction in California, either in its present Finding Nemo state or its previous incarnation. Contrary to ...
California vs. Paris: The Lands of The Future - Part One
This month and next, I shall be comparing the Lands of The Future found in the two Disneyland parks closest to my heart (California and Paris). In California, as per Florida, Tokyo and Hong Kong, this land is called Tomorrowland; in Paris this is called Discoveryland. For the benefit of these articles, when I say Tomorrowland, I am only referring to the California one; I am also only writing about the ...
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: The Treehouses
This month, I shall be comparing the treehouses found in the Disneyland parks closest to my heart (California and Paris). Both treehouses can be found in Adventureland and are walk-around attractions with a set path to follow. They both feature beautiful views (including of their parks' respective Indiana Jones attractions), hand-painted leafs and more steps than you remember until it's too late. ...
Mystery Of Mr Lincoln
Fellow Disneyland Historians and Fans, I have a mystery that hopefully someone reading will be able to solve or provide further insights or clues to aid in this endeavor. Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln has been a wonderful mainstay at Disneyland blending the old Disneyland with the current day Disneyland. The show reveals the passion of Walt Disney for his boyhood admiration for Abraham Lincoln ...
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 ...
