There are generally three reactions when you tell someone you 're taking a family vacation to Disney World: • Excitement/jealousy: “How fun, you 'll have a blast!” • Financial concern: “Man, that costs an arm and a leg.” • Outright disdain: “Yeesh. Why?” The “happiest place on Earth” isn 't for everyone, especially in Orlando 's summer swelter. As ...

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 ...

France will soon have Euro-Disneyland, and Japan already boasts a Tokyo Disneyland. Now , Columbia Pictures has received the nod from its Japanese owners to launch Sonyland in the United States. Details on the park will not be available for several months, but Southern California is being considered as a site. The folks at Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm may wonder what Sony knows that they don't know. ...

The year has started off on a sad note for the family and friends of Disney Legend Ron Dominguez, also fondly referred to as “Mr. Disneyland.” Disneyland Alumni Club Facebook group member Mark Eades shared the unfortunate news, writing: Some sad news to start the new year. The Disneyland Alumni Club has learned that Ron Dominguez, to many known as “Mr. Disneyland, and a former ...

Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev had on iron curtain banged down in from of his eyes Saturday -- and he didn't like it one bit. He was forbidden, for security reasons, to visit Disneyland during his 20-hour stay in Los Angeles. The Soviet chief expressed his disappointment like an angry Donald Duck. Angrily he boomed at 400 Hollywood personalities assembled for luncheon at 20th Century-Fox ...

Does it thrill you when something you grew up with, something known the world over, returns after a long absence? Doesn't always happen. Frequently doesn't happen. But it is happening on Friday, December 18th, when "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" returns to Disneyland. The show had been retired for years, while other attractions took over the theater space near the main Disneyland gate. But ...

MSN® Video will broadcast live the world premiere of Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" on Saturday, June 24, from 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m. PT to a worldwide audience on MSN Video. Pirates of the Caribbean, the popular Disney theme park attraction that inspired the movie, is once again brought to the big screen in Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." In a unique twist, the ...

It had been more than seven years since we last visited the Disneyland Resort. So much has changed since 2006 ... and, thankfully, so much remains the same at Walt Disney's ground-breaking theme park, known universally as The Happiest Place on Earth. Disney fans who live on the East Coast and spend the majority of their vacation time in Walt Disney World in Florida have a somewhat skewed view of ...

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. ...

Imane Boudlal, surrounded by supporters, left work 15 minutes after her shift started Wednesday. For a fourth day, the 26 year old who works as a host at a restaurant at Disneyland's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa went home without pay. At issue is her hijab, a head scarf, which is a symbol of her Muslim faith. "I said, what's the reason?" Boudlal said. "They said it's because of the ...

When Walt Disney's theme park opened 62 years ago, ?it was named Disneyland and christened "The Happiest Place on Earth." ?It was a thrill to behold all the rides and exhibits making Disney's movies, cartoons, ?and characters come to life. My sister, Diane, and I were treated to an even more special event. Our preview of the park occurred a year earlier than the official opening on July 17, 1955. (Bet ...

In 1962, just five years after Disneyland opened, the Swiss Family Treehouse was added to Adventureland. This new Disneyland attraction was themed after the hit 1960 Disney movie, “Swiss Family Robinson.” The original version of the treehouse remained until 1999, when it was changed over to Tarzan 's Treehouse based on the 1999 Walt Disney Animation feature, “Tarzan.” In both cases, the treehouse was ...

I had never been to Disneyland. When I was growing up, we watched "The Wonderful World of Disney" TV show and thought it looked like a magical place, but the idea of piling all seven of us into the 1953 Plymouth and heading for California was not something that occurred to us. I didn't even know anyone who lived in California, and in those days our few vacations were generally to see family and friends. ...

It's hard to imagine forking over about $6,100 for a day at Disneyland. But that was my bill for a six-person family vacation and it was worth it. For my nephew's fourth birthday, we decided to book a VIP tour and take on both Disneyland and California Adventure in one jam-packed day. Although the price of a VIP tour varies based on the time of year, I paid $4,900 for a ...

I really want to not care about Galaxy 's Edge. All the hype, all the lines, all the money. The last time I was in Disneyland I couldn 't wait to leave. It was so crowded. I felt so old. I am a baby boomer, the real kind. I quit the football team after I read the Beats, protested Vietnam, fled to San Francisco. I lived next door to the Grateful Dead in the Haight, saw Janis before she was ...

The jungle hung low over the green-gray waters, thick and humid. Exotic bird calls sounded around us. Something slithered and splashed into the river as the captain guided his boat downstream, pointing out beasts only seen in comic books and tropical art. Suddenly the water surged as a gigantic beast broke the surface, its huge mouth opening wide in a shattering roar. I jumped back against my ...

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 ...

The relationship between Pirates of the Caribbean, the Disneyland attraction, and Pirates of the Caribbean, the film franchise, is one of perpetual influence of one upon the other. The original 1960s attraction inspired the movie that became Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and then the characters from the movie became part of the ride itself. However, it turns out that Curse of the ...