Myrna Litt is back with another fantastic photo report:
Latest construction on the Lucky Fortune Cookery
The indoor portion of the Toy Story Midway Mania queue was not being used
Silly Symphony Swings construction walls
The walls use the classic versions of the Disney characters from “The Band Concert”
According to D23:
Returning to life September 25 and continuing through November 1, Halloween Time brings fun for all ages to the Disneyland Resort with new screams at Space Mountain and a new, nightly fireworks show. Halloween Time offers families a chance to interact with some of Disney’s most beloved characters, dressed in seasonal costumes at Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure parks. It also gives guests a unique opportunity to experience some spooky fun with Disney’s more sinister characters, the Disney villains.
For older kids and adults, Halloween Time offers a new attraction: Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy in Tomorrowland at Disneyland. For the first time, riders will experience not only the thrill of flying through the galaxy, but the exhilaration of ghosts and ghouls screaming through space trying to contact them. Creepy creatures lurk around every turn as the eerie attraction provides thrilling drops like never before.
New this year is a fireworks spooktacular that will haunt the nighttime sky throughout the Halloween season. Jack Skellington, the Master of Scaremonies, invites everyone to join in the celebration, including a cast of Disney villains who get into the sprit with a wicked sense of fun.
Jack Skellington also returns to take over the Haunted Mansion and bring back “Haunted Mansion Holiday” to New Orleans Square in Disneyland. Transformed to a mix of Halloween spookiness and Christmas tradition, “Haunted Mansion Holiday” is inspired by the classic animated film Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas. Jack and his friends provide plenty of havoc and surprises as they celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Haunted Mansion in their unusual style.
For not-so-scary fun, Halloween Time offers special pleasures for children and parents. Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland will again transform for the Pumpkin Festival, where more than 300 “non-identical” pumpkins will be on display in shop windows. Meeting favorite Disney characters will be easier than ever as they stop to greet guests at designated areas on Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland and Sunshine Plaza in Disney’s California Adventure.special meet-and-greet areas will be located throughout Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure.
Also available throughout both parks are special Halloween treats, including enjoyable Halloween menu items such as Zero’s Ghostly Ghoulash served in a dog dish in honor of Zero, Jack Skellington’s beloved pet dog. Special Halloween Time gifts can be found in Disneyland Resort shops. Gifts include jack-o-lantern mouse ears and collectable pins depicting Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and their friends in Halloween costumes.
Guests will enjoy spine-tingling fun in Disney’s California Adventure at the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, where a “supernatural” event happened on Halloween evening, 1939, forever haunting the building.
Also at Disney’s California Adventure, Sunshine Plaza becomes “Candy Corn Acres.” Mickey’s pal Goofy is up to his tricks once again, attempting to wow the world with his unusual candy corn treats. Candy corn carrots, candy corn pumpkins and candy corn signs are just a few of the candy corn items Goofy is preparing.
Back by popular demand is “Mickey’s Trick-or-Treat Party,” a one-of-a-kind celebration that returns to Disney’s California Adventure for 12 nights in October (2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30 and 31). This separate ticket, nighttime event gives children and their families a chance to dress as their favorite princesses, goblins or heroes, and trick-or-treat throughout the park. It’s the ideal environment to have fun, eat special holiday treats, play interactive games, listen to “spirited” music and watch a nightly character cavalcade that celebrates the season.
I visited the Disneyland Resort yesterday for not only its 54th anniversary, but also for the D23 member only screening of “People and Places: Disneyland USA”. I had an amazing time, and got to see some pretty special stuff. So let’s get right into this photo report:
My first stop was to check out the new exhibits in the Blue Sky Cellar
Concept art for the Pocahontas scene in World of Color
The Lucky Fortune Cookery returns this September, now to the old home of Cocina Cucamonga
Paradise Garden Grill and Boardwalk Pasta and Pizza look to be the replacements for Burger Invasion and Pizza Oom Mow Mow
Read More about DLR Photo Report – 7/17/09 :: Featuring Video of the Updated Blue Sky Cellar
As if all the coverage of World of Color that we’ve had already wasn’t enough, Brady MacDonald from the LA Times Travel Blog has a scene by scene rundown of the show from yesterday’s media walk-through of the construction site:
I watched with awe Thursday as Steven Davison pantomimed his way through a sweaty and breathless preview of the World of Color water show coming to Disney’s California Adventure in spring 2010.
For those who’ve never had the pleasure of watching a performance by the Walt Disney Imagineering vice president of parades and spectaculars, it’s a treat to behold and a sight you’ll never soon forget. I’m always worried he’ll pass out from hyperventilation or hyperbole. (Watch video from Davison’s Summer Nightastic presentation.)
World of Color, which blends the nighttime spectacle of Disneyland’s Fantasmic and the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas, is the first major addition of a $1.1-billion makeover planned for Disney’s California Adventure through 2012.
The water show will feature an array of dancing fountains, movie projections and lighting effects all tied to the original Sherman Brothers musical score from Disney’s Sunday night television show of the 1960s and ’70s.
As best as I can determine from my furiously scribbled notes of Davison’s thousand-words-per-minute summary, here’s the scene-by-scene rundown for the 25-minute World of Color show:
- The show opens with laser lights painting the night sky to the classic Sherman Brothers “Wonderful World of Color” song.
- Tinker Bell sprinkles pixie dust that enchants a famous quote by Walt Disney, causing the “D” in Disney to chase the fairy around the lagoon.
- An orange fountain, dubbed Little Squirt, makes his first appearance as the mischievous spirit of Walt Disney.
- The green Spring Sprite from “Fantasia” creates a World of Nature on the one-acre lagoon canvas.
- The Colors of the Wind segment, utilizing “water butterfly” fountains, incorporates the song “Just Around the Riverbend” from “Pocahontas.”
- Heimlich from “Bug’s Life” brings on the April Showers segment, which transitions into a raging sea storm.
- Employing a “paper animation” technique, the “Alice in Wonderland” segment includes Alice, White Rabbit and Cheshire Cat.
- Little Squirt returns during the “Little Mermaid” segment, which includes the songs “Part of Your World” and “Under the Sea” and features a fountain conga line.
- Crush from “Finding Nemo” surfs on the East Australian Current.
- Humpback whales from “Fantasia 2000″ breach and splash before sailing off through the stars.
- Wall-E and Eve dance a water ballet during the Colors of the Universe segment, which features full-projection water domes.
- Woody and Buzz from “Toy Story” play on a “water bed” in the Infinity and Beyond segment.
- Carl from “Up” arrives in his balloon house before the music transitions to “A Whole New World” as Aladdin and Jasmine fly by on a magic carpet.
- The story grows dark during Color of Fear, which features fire effects and a number of Disney villains, including the Firebird from “Fantasia” and Dr. Facilier from the upcoming “Princess and the Frog.”
- The wildebeests from “The Lion King” rush at the crowd in a water stampede.
- During the World of Tears transformation, a million points of light shine as Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the Beast are awakened with a kiss.
- Tinker Bell and Little Squirt return during a finale that washes the lagoon in a kaleidoscope of color.
- An encore utilizing “The Incredibles” symphonic score may or may not end the show.
My fingers are tired. I can’t wait to see the real thing.
And I have to agree with Brady on this one. Only word one can describe this show… AMAZING!
Disneyland has released three press videos, covering the Blue Sky Cellar and World of Color, that I wanted to share with everyone:
At Blue Sky Cellar, guests are invited to preview works in progress at Disneys California Adventure by immersing themselves in a facsimile of an Imagineering workspace. Based on the belief that idea gathering is best when the skys the limit, Blue Sky Cellar is designed to resemble an Imagineering charette, an extended creative idea development meeting. Guests receive an inside look at how Imagineers take blue sky ideas and refine them into the classic storytelling that characterizes Disney theme park attractions and adventures.
World of Color will combine hundreds of magnificent fountains, dazzling colors and an all-new kaleidoscope of audio and visual effects to take water-infused entertainment to a new level of artistry. The production will flood the senses, taking audiences on an imaginative journey into the colorful worlds of animated Disney classics such as Alice in Wonderland, The Lion King and Pocahontas, along with Disney•Pixar films Toy Story, Wall-E and many more.
In video released for the first time ever, you are treated to an exclusive time-lapse video of Mickeys Fun Wheel and Paradise Pier.
Continuing in our coverage of both the updated Blue Sky Cellar and World of Color, here’s some Disneyland press images just released showing concept art for World of Color, the updated exhibits in the Blue Sky Cellar, and the World of Color construction site (be sure to click on each image for a closer look at these beautiful photos):
Disney’s “World of Color” will bring new nighttime excitement to Paradise Pier at Disney’s California Adventure. This nightly panorama of spectacular water effects, colorful lighting and music will bring Disney animation to life with an entirely new creative and technical approach
The Alice in Wonderland scene is rumored to be the longest, starting off with “In The Golden Afternoon”
The Cheshire Cat’s face will appear in the mist screens as his body is created by twirling jets
The “marvels of earth, sea, and sky” will be covered in the show. Wall-E will represent the sky, Finding Nemo will represent the sea, but what movie will represent the earth is anyone’s guess. Also featured will be the “hopes and the tears, the joys and the fears”
Pocahontas paints with all the “Colors of the Wind”
A new website was unveiled today, the long rumored website produced as part of the Walt Disney Imagineering Blue Sky Cellar. At this new website (which you can find at DisneysCaliforniaAdventure.com) you can view concept art from upcoming attractions and areas such as Buena Vista Street, Goofy’s Sky School, Silly Symphony Swings, World of Color, The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, Cars Land, and more. Also available to view are the videos that play inside the screening room of the Blue Sky Cellar. There’s also a flip book describing the big plans of each new addition, which also features some other really cool concept art.
Disney did a phenomenal job with this website, which gives people a chance to see some of the same things they can in the Blue Sky Cellar, but from the comfort of their own home. Stay tuned to Disneyland News Today during the next couple of days as members of our team will be at Disneyland (including myself) to get pictures and video of the updated Blue Sky Cellar.
From Brady MacDonald and the LA Times Travel Blog:
Disney’s California Adventure will unveil new concept art this week at the Blue Sky Cellar preview center for the World of Color water show debuting in 2010.
In the “Alice in Wonderland” sequence from World of Color, the Cheshire Cat’s face will be projected on a fan mist screen while water whips create his body and tail. In the foreground, a diminutive Alice falls into a bottle floating on a psychedelic sea of color amid rising and falling fountains.
World of Color, which blends the nighttime spectacle of Disneyland’s Fantasmic and the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas, is the first major addition of a $1.1-billion makeover planned for Disney’s California Adventure through 2012.
The 18-minute World of Color will feature an array of dancing fountains, movie projections and lighting effects all tied to the original Sherman Brothers musical score from the 1960s television show.
Walls of water that take the shape of virtually every recognizable Disney character and skyrocketing fountains will shoot so high they’ll obscure the newly renovated 16-story Mickey Mouse Ferris Wheel.
The Blue Sky Cellar preview center is scheduled to reopen Thursday with new artwork of the planned California Adventure expansion.
Two new additions have been added to the Disneyland Resort’s Halloween Time line-up according to our good friends over at the LA Times Travel Blog:
Disneyland will add a “haunted” overlay to Space Mountain and a fireworks “spooktacular” for the Halloween season, theme park officials said.
The “Halloween Time” event, which runs from Sept. 25 through Nov. 1, is included in the price of admission to the Anaheim theme park.
The “Ghost Galaxy” Space Mountain overlay, which originally premiered at Hong Kong Disneyland in 2007, features a new soundtrack and ghostly and ghoulish projections inside the darkened roller coaster building, according to Screamscape.
The Halloween-themed fireworks show, hosted by “Master of Scaremonies” Jack Skellington of “Nightmare Before Christmas” fame, will include nods to Disney villains.
Many of those villains — Cruella de Vil (”101 Dalmatians”), Captain Hook (”Peter Pan”) and Queen of Hearts (”Alice in Wonderland”) — will also be wandering the theme park, signing autographs and passing out treats.
Across the way at Disney’s California Adventure, “Mickey’s Trick-or-Treat Party” will run on Oct. 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23 and 28-31. The separate-admission event — which includes games, music and a Disney character parade — lets costumed children trick-or-treat throughout the park.
The Orange Stinger is now closed, and its makeover to Silly Symphony Swings will begin very soon. According to the OC Register’s Around Disney blog:
The spiral-peeled orange that marks the skyline of Disney’s California Adventure will soon be gone. The Orange Stinger swing ride closes for good beginning Tuesday.
It will be re-born as the Silly Symphonies Swings, featuring characters from the first colorized Mickey Mouse cartoon: “The Band Concert,” from 1935.
The attraction will remain a ride in which guests are suspended in swings that twirl around in circles.
The short features an orchestra made up of farm animals and conducted by Mickey Mouse, heckled by Donald Duck and his copious flute collection and finally swept up in a tornado – all the while playing variations of “William Tell Overture.”
Disney Spokesman John McClintock said that though the dismantling of the Stinger will start immediately, workers won’t start “peeling the orange” until sometime next week.
The newly themed swing ride will feature Mickey as the conductor on the top, and the cows, horses, dogs, pigs and other animals making up the band’s musicians will decorate the rest of the ride.
McClintock said Disney officials expect the Silly Symphonies Swings to open in spring of 2010, at around the same time the World of Color water and light show opens.
The refurbishment is part of Disney’s $1-billion expansion and re-theming of California Adventure.
Disney hopes to make the park more attractive after several years of lackluster attendance. Part of the strategy is to link the attractions there more closely with Disney and Pixar movie and character themes.
