Laughing Place attended the media event in the Disneyland Opera House announcing the return of the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough. Be sure to check out their latest LP Lotion for interviews with Tony Baxter & his fellow Imagineers, as well as pictures of models & concept art from the new & old version of this attraction.
Let’s take a look at some various things going on through-out the Disneyland Resort from this week’s Dateline Disneyland on MiceAge:
A peek behind the construction walls outside the old Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough
For about a couple of weeks now, Power City in Innovention’s Project Tomorrow hasn’t been operating
And the Future Choice Stations seem to be “coming soon” again
The vintage ticket display in Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years has returned
I would like to advise everyone to check this article to see some of the lovely merchandise released for the 45th anniversary of the Enchanted Tiki Room (the link is at the top of the post).
MousePlanet has received a little more information on the soon to re-open Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough that was announced earlier today, as well as a picture of a model of the attraction (pictured bellow). Be sure to check it out!
“It is fitting that we are announcing the return of a classic on the 53rd anniversary of Disneyland,” said Tony Baxter, Senior Vice President of Creative Development for Walt Disney Imagineering, who unveiled a model of the castle on July 17, the birthday of Disneyland park.
Next year marks the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty,” and the excitement generated by the anniversary of the motion picture spurred interest in the return of the Disneyland attraction.
Also celebrating the milestone 50th Anniversary of “Sleeping Beauty” is Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, which will release a two-disc Platinum Blu-ray™ Hi-Def disc, making “Sleeping Beauty” the first Walt Disney animated classic title to be released in high definition, as well as on two-disc Platinum DVD. A bonus feature on the new release will be “The Original Sleeping Beauty Walk-Through Attraction With Walt Disney Imagineering,” an immersive experience recreating the original castle walkthrough.
On April 29, 1957, nearly two years before the premiere of Walt Disney’s animated feature “Sleeping Beauty,” the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough opened with an in-park ceremony featuring Walt Disney and actress Shirley Temple who, some 20 years earlier, had presented Disney with his special Academy Award – one Oscar and seven little ones – for “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”
The crafting of the 1957 walkthrough show fell to Walt Disney Imagineer Ken Anderson and animation art director and color stylist Eyvind Earle, credited with giving the motion picture “Sleeping Beauty” the distinctive and colorful look of storybook illustrations in medieval style. An entirely new look appeared in 1977 when the attraction’s redesign featured miniature dioramas, including moving figurines similar to the window displays in the shops on Main Street, U.S.A.
When the attraction is unveiled later this year, the “show” will differ from the dioramas of the 1980s and ‘90s, returning to the unique style of the original 1957 show and motion picture. Enhanced with new scenes and special effects magic, the re-Imagineered attraction will employ technology not available in the 1950s to represent scenes from the story of Sleeping Beauty, including the magic of good fairies Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, and the more sinister spells of the evil Maleficent.
For the first time, guests who are unable to climb stairs or navigate the passageways of the Castle will be able to experience the walkthrough “virtually” in a special room on the ground floor of the Castle.
Today is one of those special days in the Disney fan community, for today is Disneyland’s 53rd anniversary! While the 53rd anniversary isn’t a landmark anniversary, Disneyland are still celebrating it with a small ceremony today at 4:45PM, which will basically be a replaying of Walt’s Dedication of Disneyland, along with the Mayor of Main Street & some characters.
So Happy 53rd Birthday Disneyland, & Roll on the 55th!
Let’s take a look at some of the various things going on through-out the Disneyland Resort from this week’s Dateline Disneyland on MiceAge:
Billboards around SoCal for Toy Story Mania have been changed to say “Take aim and ride” as opposed to “Opening June 17th”
Some ground work has been done at Goofy’s Gas in Toontown
Goofy’s car has returned outside Goofy’s House
From the OC Register:
Crystal skulls may be added to the Indiana Jones Adventure attraction in Disneyland, but the “Summer of Hidden Mysteries” will end after this summer.
Glenn Kelman, a Disney Entertainment Productions senior show producer, talked about the Indiana Jones touches added to Adventureland for the summer.
First, he said that the “Summer of Hidden Mysteries” will only last through the summer.
“There are no plans to keep this event running along past this summer,” Kelman said.
He also mentioned that “as the [Indiana Jones] franchise continues, the possibility may come up to add new things to the Indiana Jones Adventure attraction.”
He said that there are no plans to remake or change the Indiana ride at Disneyland. Kelman said Imagineers’ “imagination could run wild” with new things to add to the ride from the latest “Crystal Skull” Indiana Jones movie.
Imagineering Spokeswoman Marilyn Waters said she knows of no plans to add “Crystal Skull” touches to the attraction.
She added that “it doesn’t mean that in a couple of months we won’t say ‘hey, why don’t we add this.’
Today is a very slow news day:
Lindsay Lohan celebrated her 22nd birthday with a trip to Disneyland over the long Fourth of July holiday weekend.
Lohan climbed aboard the Alice in Wonderland dark ride with pal Samantha Ronson, according to paparazzi photos posted by TMZ. Accompanying LiLo and her BFF at the Anaheim theme park: brother Michael Jr. and sister Ali, reported the celebrity gossip website Just Jared.
The former Disney movie star and her DJ friend topped off the birthday fun with a party at Teddy’s nightclub in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, according to the U.K.’s Daily Mail.
Photo from TMZ.com
Let’s take a look at some various things going on through-out the Disneyland Resort from this week’s Monday in the Parks on MiceAge:
The 4th of July holiday weekend didn’t turn out that busy after all, as seen in the Wait Times Board on Sunday at 1pm
Those little things on top of Monorail Red are the air scoops to help cool down the cabins
The Orange County Health Department is now requiring Disneyland to post the Restaurant Inspection Notices at the entrance to all Disneyland Resort restaurants
Close-up of the Inspection Notice
From the LA Times:
Those yearning to ride Disneyland’s long-awaited new monorail found they had to hang on a little longer Saturday. The Mark VII, which had appeared off and on late in the week, never made it out of its shelter, to the dismay of some visitors hoping to step aboard.
“I’m a little disappointed,” said Samantha Wakach, a vacationer from Los Angeles, who’d been told by the concierge at her hotel that the new train was operating. “That’s why we decided to come over here instead of walking.”
The Mark VII, otherwise known as Monorail Red, is the seventh generation of the ride that’s been entertaining visitors since 1959 when it made its entry as the nation’s first electric train system on a single rail.
Sleek and futuristic, it was promoted as a vision for public transportation.
On Saturday the long-awaited new train, the park’s only upgrade of the attraction in 21 years, failed to appear after several hours of on-again, off-again operation over the previous two days.
Disney officials attributed the glitches to the attraction’s normal “test and adjust” period, when mechanics and designers work out the bugs.
“We are working on solving them,” spokeswoman Betsy Sanchez said of the unspecified problems.
She would not predict when the ride would open full time.
