“Happiest Celebration on Earth” Press Event Coverage

DAVE (and Jennifer) MARX
REPORTING FROM DISNEYLAND

Early Tuesday morning Jennifer, Baby Alexander, and I caught a flight from Detroit to Los Angeles. Yep, we were "going to Disneyland" for the kickoff of the Happiest Celebration on Earth, Disneyland's 50th Anniversary! (OK, the park actually opened on July 17, 1955, but Disney always likes to start its big celebrations a few months early to build a bit of momentum.) As I also turned 50 a bit earlier this year, I've been feeling more than a little bit of kinship with the Happiest Place on Earth these days. So, while Walt Disney World, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disneyland and (a bit later this year) Hong Kong Disneyland are all celebrating their oldest sibling's big event, I knew I had to be where it all started on the day the celebration began.

Although the public celebration starts officially on May 5, 2005 (05/05/05 – get it?), Disney invited a bunch of folks including the media, travel industry professionals, Hollywood celebrities, Disney dignitaries and a whole bunch of lucky Disneyland Annual Passholders in for an early peek at the new attractions. What have we seen so far?

Block Party Bash – This is a new parade for Disney's California Adventure, featuring oodles of characters from Pixar animated films, a large cast of very energetic dancers, and a very high-energy musical sound track. The floats all include a wooden toy block motif inspired by Toy Story ("block" party, get it?), with some really fun theming specific to the various movies. The Monsters, Inc. float was parked in front of our viewing location for quite a while, and appropriately enough Sully and his pals led us in tunes like "Scream" (the rock and roll classic "Shout," with a slight twist so the monsters could collect all our screams). "You know, you make me want to scream, hold my hands up, scream…" Even this 50 year-old fogey got caught up in the spirit of things by the time the parade was over. The show is similar in approach to Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade at Disney's Animal Kingdom, but with even higher levels of energy from the dancers and music. My advice? This is definitely an audience participation event. Come to this parade ready to clap your hands and move your feet, and you'll have a blast!

Wednesday brought several "official" openings to Disneyland Park. We started off with a look at Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams, the park's new "3 o'clock parade." This is a classic Disney procession filled with classic Disney characters. Leading off on foot was the fairy contingent – the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio, Fairy Godmother from Cinderella, and Flora, Fauna and Merryweather from Sleeping Beauty. They danced down Main St. to music from Brother Bear, "Welcome to our family time…" while behind them, Peter Pan and Tinker Bell rode on a float bearing a golden Disneyland Railroad engine (there's a lot of gold at Disneyland this year). The musical choice seemed a little odd, considering the characters, until the music faded down and we heard a recording of Walt Disney from Disneyland's opening ceremony, "To all who come to this happy place, welcome!" Quite a welcome, indeed! The parade continued with floats and dancers representing (among others) The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, and as always, bringing up the rear, Mickey and Minnie, accompanied by Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, their princes and a host of other classic characters on a white, fairytale castle float trimmed in gold. The accompanying dancers on the parade route were costumed in styles that seemed to represent all 50 years of Disney parade tradition. All the floats are richly detailed, using Disney's legendary entertainment know-how. If you love a classic Disney parade, this one will not disappoint!

Next, we attended the premiere of Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years, a special exhibit and film in the Main St. Opera House that replaces Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln for the duration of the celebration. The display cases in the pre-show exhibit hall have all been reworked to showcase Disneyland history. Alas, this part of the attraction is not as beautifully done as another Disney historical exhibit, Walt Disney: One Man's Dream at Disney-MGM Studios, but Disney history buffs will still spend plenty of time browsing and reminiscing. The real centerpiece of the attraction is a new, 17-minute film starring Steve Martin (who makes sure we know he started his entertainment career as a Disneyland cast member) and Donald Duck, both of whom were on hand live for the opening ceremonies. The film is both reverent (of Disney history and tradition) and fun at the same time. It may not be an E Ticket attraction, but you'll enjoy it just the same.

A little while later it was time for the "official" opening of Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. You may have already read some unofficial reviews of this attraction, as it has been in "soft opening" for some time now. But eventually, all "soft" openings must become "official," and with the help of actor Tim Allen, his alter ego Buzz Lightyear and several Little Green Men, we enjoyed a very entertaining opening ceremony. (Funny, we were never able to see Clark Kent and Superman in the same place – how did these guys do it?) After the ceremony, it was time for us to blast away at Zurg with our laser cannons, in the same tradition as Walt Disney World's Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. The folks at Disney Imagineering have now produced three versions of this attraction, and they keep adding great new features. While each two-seat vehicle still spins with a joystick control, you can now hand-hold your laser cannon, making it much easier to pick out targets. While the targets look like the familiar Zurg and his minions, the targets light-up even more dramatically whenever they're hit, and a light on your laser cannon flashes to confirm that it was [i]your[/i] hit. In another nice refinement, the on-vehicle digital score displays tell you what level of proficiency you've achieved, along with the numerical score (I made 69,549 points, for L-3). This is another Disney ride that snaps a photo of every guest, but in a very nice twist, you don't have to buy the photo to have your souvenir (actually, I'm not sure you could buy one if you wanted to). Instead, you can e-mail your photo to whomever you choose (like yourself). Click 'Print' and well, you get the picture. Coming a little later this year is a "first" for any attraction at any Disney park – folks logging into Disneyland.com/buzz will be able to fire at Zurg in competition with guests who are currently riding the attraction at Disneyland. Will marvels never cease? Clearly, Disney Imagineering intends to head for infinity, and beyond!

Finally our day (or night, as the case happens to be) wrapped up with the premiere of Dreams, Disney's newest and most impressive fireworks spectacular to date. It begins in familiar fashion, with the same music and many of the same pyrotechnic effects as the wonderful Wishes fireworks show at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. But wait… that's not Jiminy Cricket's voice we hear narrating, it's Julie Andrews, with a 50th Anniversary-appropriate script. Walt Disney's recorded voice chimes in, and the music morphs out of Wishes into a fresh new soundtrack. Meanwhile, Tinker Bell makes her traditional flight from the Matterhorn with a fabulous new twist – she can now fly back and forth, and up and down! So, for several minutes while the music and rockets do their thing, Tink is flying every which way above the castle! Really cool stuff! Meantime, the soundtrack and visual effects are playing out what may be a first for a Disney fireworks show. Rather than salute characters and music from classic Disney films, it celebrates classic attractions and every land of Disneyland park. We hear familiar voice excerpts, sounds and/or music from the Disneyland Railroad, the Enchanted Tiki Room, the Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Tours, Splash Mountain, and even the Frontierland Shooting Gallery, among many others, all tied together by a great musical score. Meanwhile, fireworks are bursting everywhere – from behind the castle, from the castle's battlements, from the top of the Matterhorn, and from everywhere around the perimeter of the park. I'm not sure whether these "perimeter" fireworks are a standard feature or will be reserved for holidays and other special events, but they sure were impressive last night! Finally, after we finish our musical and pyrotechnic "tour" of the park, the Wishes theme music returns (as does Tinker Bell!) for the grand finale. Whew! What a show!

Well, the big day is here and we're due back in the park at 8:30 am to gear up for the grand finale of the event, the official opening ceremony for the Happiest Celebration on Earth. Maybe we'll see some of you there! Somehow, I have a feeling there will be more than the 28,000 guests that arrived for the park's opening 50 years ago.