Disney's Longtime Imagineering Chief To Step Down
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Martin Sklar, the creative force behind most of Walt Disney Co.'s theme parks, will step down as head of the company's famed Imagineering division, Disney said on Friday. Sklar, 72, takes on a new role as a recruiter and ambassador for the division where he worked for 50 years and was regarded as a legend. The change at the top of Imagineering comes as Pixar Animation Studios Inc. creative ...
Disneys Most Complimented Cast Members Reveal The Lasting Impact Of Guests Heartfelt Messages It Fuels The Fire
NEED TO KNOW
Disney parks have a feature that allows guests to submit compliments to the cast members that really made their trip
Cast members have received over three million compliments since the program launched in 2021
Some of the parks' most-complimented cast members Photographer Luis Sanchez and Kilimanjaro Safaris guides Charm Lerario and Angel Flores shared ...
Disney's Newest Princess Will Make Disneyland Debut On Friday
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Disney's newest princess, Princess Tiana, will make her Disneyland debut on Friday as part of a new show, "Tiana's Showboat Jubilee!" featuring characters from the upcoming animated film "The Princess and the Frog." Billed as a rousing, colorful procession with a jazz-filled Mardi Gras theme, "Tiana's Showboat Jubilee!" begins with festively dressed, bead- tossing revelers leading Disneyland visitors ...
Disneys Opening Brings Magical Fantasy To Life
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On Sunday, Disneyland officially turns 50. This is of particular interest to boys (and girls) my age because it could well be the first time all of us recall, simultaneously and in vivid detail, something that happened a half-century ago. In fact, we can all probably remember the vast build-up to the opening, because we were the very fuel with which Walt Disney planned to power his new amusement ...
Disney's Overnight Employees Get Honored
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Those Disneyland Resort employees that are rarely seen by the light of day were honored early Wednesday morning by the resort's management. In what has become an annual event for more than 10 years now, the resort threw a 3 a.m. bash for the more than 1,300 employees who toil the "third shift." Disneyland Resort President George Kalogridis was among the managers who served the employees a ...
Disney's PeopleMover Gets A New Name
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The PeopleMover has always been among my favorite Disney attractions. It's quiet, relaxing and there's rarely a wait. It affords riders a panoramic view of Tomorrowland, as well as many other sections of the Magic Kingdom. When it was first introduced at Disneyland in 1967, the WEDway PeopleMover like the monorail was hailed as a mass transportation idea of the future. Although the ...
Disney's Pirates Ride Gets Controversial Cross-Promotional Makeover
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Back in 1997, Disney angered some of its fans by making the outlaw buccaneers in its popular Pirates of the Caribbean ride less rapey, altering it so that its horny bandits were chasing a meal instead of terrified wench tail. Today's LAT reports that the Most Synergistic Place on Earth has once again run afoul of purists by cynically inserting characters from their blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean ...
Disney's Rivers Of America All Dried Up
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Many guests are disappointed to find access to Tom Sawyer Island temporarily cut off. Hard to say what the toaster was doing at the bottom of Disneyland's Rivers of America. Sure, the cameras, beepers and video recorders make sense. But not the toaster. Or the full bottle of rum. The Rivers of America, which wrap around Tom Sawyer Island and hide underwater tracks for the Sailing Ship Columbia ...
Disney's Sky Spectacular
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The folks in Anaheim, Calif., were positively buoyant. Their "million balloon salute" to honor Disneyland's 30th anniversary had gone off without a puncture. Billed as Skyfest, the launch took place on December 5, which would have been Walt Disney's 84th birthday (he died in 1966) and was attended by local VIPs Mickey and Minnie and at least 15,000 others. In all, 1,121,448 helium-filled balloons-that's ...
Disney's Space Mountain Goes Ghoulish
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The Space Mountain ride at Disneyland has been made over for Halloween terrors, officials at the California amusement park say. The Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy, which opened its doors to the public Friday, feature's the original ride's star-spangled tunnel ride before the stars align into a skull-like face with extending skeletal arms to the sounds of a roaring creature. It's classic Space ...
Disney's Storybook Ride Gets Nightly Makeover
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Landscapers constantly work on Disneyland's Storybook Canal to keep the trees in scale with the miniature scenes in the attraction. Guides on the Storybook Land Canal Boats at Disneyland tell guests the plants are real - they've just been miniaturized. Tinkerbell might be responsible for shrinking the hundreds of types of plant life in the 56-year-old attraction, but a crew of two Disney workers ...
Disney's Technology Grows Up
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At the Turtle Talk With Crush exhibit at Disney's California Adventure theme park, Crush the sea turtle makes a cameo like those at the start of most Disney rides. Nothing seems out of the ordinary as the character goes though the script with a cast member, until the Finding Nemo star takes questions from the audience. "I want to talk to this little dude in the purple shirt," Crush says, "the one up ...
Disney's Trash Is Man's Treasure
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If it's true that one man's trash is another man's treasure, then Brian Ramsey has found a gold mine. A self-described Disney fanatic, he became obsessed with things the company was just getting rid of, WESH 2 News reported. He's collected props, costumes, banners from the parks, and even rides. He said Disneyland in California recently refurbished their Space Mountain. They sent their cars ...
Disneywhirl: How Adults Can Maximize The Magic At The Two Parks
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If you experienced a Disney theme park as a child, you might remember the joy of meeting Mickey Mouse, fear at the sight of ghosts in The Haunted Mansion or inevitable end-of-day exhaustion as fireworks burst overhead and Tinkerbell zipped through the sky. But how do these Happiest and Most Magical Places on Earth stack up when you're a single adult searching for theme park thrills? It had been ...
Disparity Of Passions Unveiled At Disneyland
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There are things I can't tell my family. Things they wouldn't understand. They don't know, for example, that elbow-length satin gloves make me warm and tingly inside. They've never noticed how my eyes go swirly-girly at the mention of glass slippers or fairy wings. They're entirely ignorant of my impeccable "Little Mermaid" impression - a spot-on vocal triumph charting every sigh, giggle and vibrato ...
Diver Finds Lost Wedding Rings Tossed Turkey Legs And Mysterious Sunken Head Under The Sea
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Disneyland diver Thomas Self has discovered a lot of strange things in the waters of the Anaheim theme park, but he 'll never forget what he found one night in the Jungle Cruise river. Self and his fellow divers were called out to investigate a mysterious banging sound after Jungle Cruise skippers repeatedly heard something thumping on the bottom of their boats in the temple ruins scene next ...
Dizzy For Disneyland
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Mickey and Minnie Mouse welcomed some famous friends to their Disneyland home Wednesday to help the theme park kick off its Happiest Homecoming 50th anniversary celebration, which continues through the end of 2006. Former Mouseketeer Christina Aguilera was spotted in the Haunted Mansion, wrapped in the arms of her fiance, music exec Jordan Bratman. Jim Belushi and his young son, Jared, ...
Do All Theme Park Rides Have To Be Battles With An Evil Empire
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The key to a great theme park attraction is the same as with any other form of entertainment -great attractions tell great stories. But what makes a story great? Obviously, some tales endure for generations and passing that test of time is as good a sign as any that a story has reached greatness. But Disneyland fans with long memories might have noticed how storytelling in the parks has changed over ...
Do Disneyland
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Many of us have to do the obligatory family-touristy thing when we travel. But don't despair: There's even star power at Disneyland if you know where to look. First, Walt Disney slept there -- setting Disneyland apart from any other Disney park in the world. A light is still kept on in his personal apartment above the Main Street fire station. Take the guided "A Walk in Walt's Footsteps" ...
Do Everything At The Disneyland Resort In 24 Hours
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They say that Disneyland Resort can't be experienced fully in one day, and they are right. There are just too many rides, dining locations, shows, parades, shops, interactive areas, character meets, and all of those famous Disney touches along the way to really do everything. Pace yourself. Luckily, on Friday, May 24, Disneyland Resorts Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park (plus Walt ...
Do Not Miss The Fantasmic Dining Package
One of the best ways to ensure that you and your traveling party have a great view of Fantasmic! at Disneyland is to book a Fantasmic! Dining Package. With the purchase of a dining package, you can enjoy a 3-course meal at either Cafe Orleans, River Belle Terrace, or Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante then experience Fantasmic! that same evening from your table or a reserved viewing location.
Our ...
Do Not Skip This Improved Ride In Fantasyland
When it comes to visiting Fantasyland at the Disneyland Resort, most of us feel a connection to the nostalgia of the area. Containing four classic Disney Dark Rides, the land actively reminds me of my childhood with some of the first rides I ever experienced. The area is split up into two sections: Peter Pan 's Flight, with a typical 30 - 60 minute wait time, and everything else. One attraction that falls ...
Do Not Tell Mickey The Yippies Are Coming Sunglasses After Dark The Untold Yippie Project Comes To New York City Stage
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Who were the "Yippies"? They were the self-proclaimed "radical offspring of the hippie movement": members of the Youth International Party, which was formed in 1967. With their rule-breaking fashion sensibility, progressive ideas, and unapologetic affinity for drugs and free love, they became a scapegoat for the so-called "Establishment"- an insult to good, clean, wholesome USA values. But these young ...
Do Single Rider Lines Help Shorten Lines At Disneyland And Other Theme Parks
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When "Soarin' Around the World" replaced the original Soarin' Over California at Disney California Adventure last week, the new destinations on screen weren't the only thing getting the attention of Disneyland fans. Disney also eliminated the single rider line that solo visitors long had used to shorten their wait times for this always-popular attraction. Not all theme park visitors know about single ...
Do You Believe In Magic?
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Once upon a time in a popular tourist destination called the Magic Kingdom, there lived some very prosperous characters. They were happy all the time (except for Grumpy, but it was his job to be that way). They produced souvenirs, cartoons and movies that were the delight of families around the world. But one day a great disenchantment fell over the kingdom, for the magic no longer worked. Tinker Bell's ...
Do You Remember These Old Attractions At Disneyland And DCA
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Disneyland has been my second home since I was a little girl. So many things have changed in both parks over the years and I think about old attractions quite often as they are part of my childhood memories. One of the great things about Disney that separates them from other theme parks is that they are consistently changing and ever evolving. Walt Disney once said, “Disneyland will never be completed. ...
Do You Remember These Phased Out Rides And Attractions
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The Disneyland magic seems to stand the test of time even though the park has undergone several renovations since its opening on July 17, 1955. Since then, a few fan-favorite rides and attractions got a facelift or were cut by the big mouse himself. However, the internet and Disney 's ever-growing fanbase won 't let the rides ' memories fade, even if the park has tried to. Here ...
Do You Remember When Winnie The Pooh Ran For President At Disneyland
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There have been many write-in candidates for president, but none as friendly as that loveable old bear, Winnie the Pooh. Pooh first ran for president in 1968. It was not a big campaign, but the popularity of it surprised the Disney publicity machine. So they were ready for the 1972 election cycle. Working with Sears, which had the merchandising rights to the character, drawings were held at ...
Documentary Critical Of Disney From The Disney Family
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Three years ago, Abigail E. Disney began to publicly excoriate the Walt Disney Company for its “obscene” pay inequality, with Robert A. Iger, who was then chief executive, at one end of the scale and hourly theme park workers at the other. The company founded by her grandfather and great-uncle repeatedly returned fire, at one point calling her assertions a “gross and unfair exaggeration of the facts.” ...
Does Disneyland Discriminate Against The Disabled
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Tina Baughman wanted to take her daughter on a trip to Disneyland for her eighth birthday. But there was a problem: Baughman suffers from limb girdle muscular dystrophy, which makes it hard for her walk or stand up from a seated position. She contacted Disneyland in advance and asked for permission to use a Segway. Disneyland said no. It told her to use a wheelchair or motorized scooter which Baughman ...
Does Disneyland Have Too Many Annual Passholders
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I suspect that many Disneyland fans have asked that question when backed up behind hundreds of other cars all waiting to get into the Mickey and Friends parking structure on a Friday night. Disneyland has so many annual passholders that it no longer follows the same crowd patterns as every other major park in the country. At most theme parks, the crowds hit hardest on summer weekends and holidays, ...
Access To Over 3190 Construction Photos
