Disneyland's golden anniversary: A sneak preview

By Janet Fullwood -- Bee Travel Editor
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, May 1, 2005

They're all celebrating Uncle Walt's vision with 18 months of global hoopla that kicks off Thursday, but nowhere will the party be more poignant than at the original "Happiest Place on Earth."

Disneyland's "Happiest Homecoming on Earth" will showcase cutting-edge technology and nostalgia at the same time.

"Everyone has a Disneyland story - Disneyland has become a tradition passed from generation to generation," says Disney spokesman Tim O'Day, suggesting that this year is an especially prime time for making memories.

The park's real anniversary doesn't fall until July 17, but almost all the new attractions will debut Thursday, 05-05-05, a date chosen to emphasize the golden anniversary.

A sneak preview follows. But remember: Disneyland wouldn't be Disneyland if the "imagineers" didn't keep some pixie dust up their sleeves.

NOSTALGIA CENTRAL

The interactive exhibit in the theater lobby will incorporate displays drawn from more than five decades of park history, including concept work, layout and maps. A focal point, said senior concept designer Chris Beatty, will be the original aerial schematic pencil drawing Walt Disney took to the bank when his dream park was still a dream.

An elaborate, 12-by-12-foot model of Disneyland as it was on opening day will reinforce the contrasts between then and now.

"It will amaze you what was not there - and how much the park has grown," said Beatty.

Also on view will be artifacts ranging from models of the Peter Pan and Dumbo rides (Dumbo originally was envisioned as pink, not gray), to brassieres from a short-lived Main Street shop called Wizard of Bras.

Steve Martin, who got his career start at Disneyland hawking maps at age 11, will co-host the "First 50 Magical Years" movie with ... Donald Duck.

The film's intent is to present an amusing historical overview and touch hearts at the same time, said senior show writer Pam Fisher.

"Disney is not just a timeline; it's shared memories," she noted.

Filmmakers had overwhelming amounts of material from which to draw when conceptualizing the production, Fisher said. The coup came with a discovery in the archives of forgotten footage: "full-color, 35 mm film that no one had ever seen." The film had been shot for the "Disneyland" TV show, which hit the airways months before the park's actual opening.

"We found some beautiful stuff in there and it translated beautifully to digital," said Fisher.

Nostalgia buffs will go ga-ga over shots of such all-but-forgotten attractions as live mermaids in the submarine lagoon and the Humdinger GoGo Dancers.

"If it's your first visit, you'll get a beautiful history. And if it's your 500th visit, you'll still see things you've never seen before," said Fisher.

As for "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln," the longtime attraction housed in the Opera House?

Honest Abe is going into hibernation for the 18-month duration of the anniversary celebration, but Disney officials promise he'll be back.

BRING ON THE PARADES

Parade of Dreams: At Disneyland, the focus is on the pantheon of animated characters who have charmed audiences over the years. But the Parade of Dreams will not be a simple succession of fancy floats and waving beauties. In this rolling performance, special effects will rule.

Steve Davison, Disney's creative director of shows and spectaculars, calls the eight-unit visual feast with 104 performers "epic - probably the biggest we've ever done."

It's also the most technical. Breaking stride with previous parades, the Parade of Dreams will feature musical production numbers presented on and around rolling stages. Instead of one unified soundtrack playing throughout the length of the parade, each themed unit will feature its own musical score. Themes are tied to Disney classics including "Beauty and the Beast," "The Little Mermaid," "Pinocchio," "Alice in Wonderland" and the "The Lion King."

Practically every character ever to appear in an animated Disney film will appear somewhere in line. Many will be what Disney calls "face characters," who make eye contact and otherwise interact with spectators. Among Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and White Rabbit on Rollerblades will be wildly attired performers using bungee cords, stilts and trampolines, among other devices, to showcase their skills.

The floats, loaded with special-effects gadgetry, also are intended to delight and amuse. Look for elaborate puppetry, telescoping turrets, jumping fountains, billowing bubbles and confetti blasts, among other animated features.

The 30-minute-long Parade of Dreams will be performed twice daily starting Thursday, with three-minute "show stops" along the route at Small World Mall, Central Plaza and Town Square.

Block Party Bash: Across the esplanade at Disney's California Adventure, an attraction geared to amp up the energy level and simultaneously "drive the gate" (that is, increase attendance) will make its debut Wednesday and be performed daily in three successive locations.

"The Block Party Bash is not a stand-there-and-watch parade," said senior show director Marilyn Magness. "It's a get-up-and-do parade."

Characters from Pixar films - "Monsters, Inc.," "Toy Story," "A Bug's Life" and "The Incredibles" - will figure prominently in the interactive procession. Look for rolling party invitations and an "infantry" of 8-foot-tall orange road cones to lead a 400-foot-long cast of characters who will perform 11 minutes at each of four party positions, pulling the audience into the action.

The cast includes 60 dancers, 12 pairs of jumping stilts, 30 electric scooters, four trampoline units and 16 professional acrobats performing "the most spectacular stunts ever seen on the streets of Disneyland," Magness said.

Nothing about the Block Party Bash will be stationary: Beach balls will fly, floats will telescope skyward - and, if the moving party proves as compelling as producers hope, hundreds of park guests will join in to twist and shout.

"The whole show feels like a big toy," Magness said. "It's all familiar music, all celebration, all tongue in cheek."

THE BUZZ ON "BUZZ"

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, a kind of life-size, interactive video game, is, well, a blast.

A "dark" ride based on the Pixar animated film "Toy Story 2," the attraction transports guests into a world populated by fantastic aliens and other props marked with targets worth varying point totals. Each rider gets a "laser" gun to shoot from a "space cruiser" that can be spun around for maximum aiming advantage.

"This ride makes everybody feel like a 9-year-old. The problem is, your 9-year-old will shoot better than you," said Roger Holzberg, vice president and creative director of Disney's online division.

At the end of the ride, guests can visit a computer kiosk to send free e-mail postcards containing photographs of themselves on the ride.

"Astro Blasters" is patterned after a similar Buzz-themed ride that opened in 1998 at the Walt Disney Resort in Florida, but the California version has an additional component: Starting June 6, in a global first, the attraction will be connected to cyberspace. Home computer users will be able to download a free game at www.disneyland.com/buz and play along one-on-one with park guests, in real time, via webcam technology. When the ride is not running, home players can compete with each other for the highest scores.

Holzberg foresees interactivity becoming the next big thing in theme-park attractions.

"Fifty years ago, Walt Disney charged imagineers with taking the technology of today and using it to entertain," he noted at a press briefing. "This melding of real world and virtual world will probably set the stage for the next 50 years."

GRAND FINALE

A 17-minute fireworks spectacular billed as Disney's most elaborate ever will use the sky as a canvas to "take you back into Disney history in a brand-new way," according to Davison, the show's creative director. "This is probably the most completely outrageous thing we've ever done for a nighttime show."

The show, titled "Remember ... Dreams Come True," will be visible from most points in the park, producers say. The multilayered show will incorporate state-of-the-art pyrotechnics, projection, laser effects, lighting and sound techniques.

Many of the fireworks are products developed in China specifically for Disney. Aerial effects were tested and perfected at secluded locations in the Gobi Desert and in Nevada, Davison said.

And how much did it cost to develop what the director calls the "ultimate E ticket in the sky"?

"Enough to get the magic right," is all he'll say.

The show's soundtrack features Julie Andrews narrating a nostalgic story line. Visuals will incorporate everything from Davy Crockett to an Electrical Parade in the sky, the bride from the Haunted Mansion and a fiery, skull-and-crossbones pirate battle, Davison said.

As for Tink: "Tinker Bell will be a live person able to fly and stop in the middle of the sky," Davison said. "She will introduce Act 2."

It all builds to a golden finale.

Guess you'll just have to see it to believe it.