Showing posts with label Today. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Today. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Today in Disney Parks and Resorts History - Mickey's Toontown
January 24, 1993 –
Disneyland – Anaheim, CA
Mickey's Toontown
officially opens at Disneyland. This all-new land, just north of Fantasyland,
is a recreation of the Mickey Mouse universe, where guests can meet the
characters and visit their homes, constructed in a vibrant cartoon-style with
no right angles to be found anywhere. Inspired by "Toontown" from the
1988 film “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”,
the themed land features attractions as Gadget's
Go Coaster, Goofy's Bounce House,
Donald’s Boat, Chip & Dale’s Acorn Crawl and Treehouse and the Jolly Trolley.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Today in Disney Parks and Resorts History - The Original Disney Hotel Finally Comes into the Family
January 21, 1989 –
Disneyland – Anaheim, CA
The Walt Disney
Company acquires the Wrather
Corporation, whose assets include the Disneyland
Hotel, across the street from Disneyland.
At this time Wrather's assets also
includes the RMS Queen Mary and Hughes H-4 Hercules (the "Spruce
Goose") in Long Beach, as well as the rights to “The Lone Ranger” and the “Lassie”
TV series.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Today in Disney Parks and Resorts History - Tomorrowland Additions
January 15, 1975 –
Walt Disney World – Lake Buena Vista, FL
Space Mountain
opens in Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. A space-themed
indoor roller coaster, originally envisioned by Walt Disney for Tomorrowland at Disneyland in the 1960’s, the technology to build it simply didn’t
yet exist when Walt dreamed it up. The first
official ride is taken by Colonel James Irwin, the pilot of the Apollo XV Lunar
Module on Apollo XV.
Also opening on this day in Tomorrowland at the Magic
Kingdom is the Carousel of Progress,
an attraction relocated to Florida from Disneyland
in California, tracing 100 years of innovations in electricity. The attraction
had a home in Tomorrowland at
Disneyland from 1967 – 1972, but it originally debuted at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. It features a rotating carousel, whereby the guests
are seated and rotate around the various stationary stages where an audio-animatronics
family showcases American life from the days before electricity to the present.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Today in Disney Parks and Resorts History - International Gateway Opens
January 12, 1990 –
Walt Disney World – Lake Buena Vista, FL
The International
Gateway opens at EPCOT Center.
This new second entrance allows guests staying in the various Epcot area resort
hotels access to the park without having to take a bus to the front of the
park. The new entrance is located between
the United Kingdom and France pavilions in World Showcase.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Today in Disney Parks and Resorts History - Disneyland's 35th Celebration
January 11, 1990 –
Disneyland – Anaheim, CA
Disneyland
kicks off its 35th anniversary celebration. Reuniting in front of the Main Street Train Station for the first time since the 1955 Grand
Opening live broadcast on ABC TV are all three of the original broadcast
hosts: Art Linkletter, Bob Cummings, and
Ronald Reagan to kick off the anniversary celebration featuring the all-new
Party Gras Parade, with New Orleans-style floats and 40-foot-tall balloons of
famed Disney characters in their best party styles: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy
and Roger Rabbit.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Today in Disney Parks and Resorts History - Star Tours Debuts
January 9, 1987 –
Disneyland – Anaheim, CA
Star Tours opens
in Tomorrowland at Disneyland, occupying the space once
occupied by Adventure Thru Inner Space.
A flight simulator ride based on George Lucas’ Star Wars film trilogy, it is the park's first attraction not to
use Disney-designed imagery. The opening celebration lasts for 60 hours and
guests are given a Star Tours Watch when they enter the park.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Today in Disney Parks and Resorts History - Disney-MGM Studios Changes
January 7, 1992 –
Walt Disney World – Lake Buena Vista, FL
Disney-MGM Studios
debuts the all-new Voyage of The Little
Mermaid, a multi-media presentation, replacing Here Come the Muppets. The new show is a 17-minute experience,
featuring a unique combination of special effects, film clips, live
performances and innovative puppetry.
January 7, 2008 –
Walt Disney World – Lake Buena Vista, FL
Disney-MGM Studios
is now officially called Disney's
Hollywood Studios.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Today in Disney Parks and Resorts History - Disneyland's Tencennial
January 3, 1965 –
Disneyland – Anaheim, CA
Disneyland
observes its tenth anniversary with a Tencennial
Parade. On television Walt Disney
introduces a host of new attractions coming to the theme park on his “Walt
Disney's Wonderful World of Color” Sunday night program. He is joined in this
episode by the first Disneyland Ambassador, Julie Reihm, whom he refers to as Miss Disneyland.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Today in Disney Parks and Resorts History - Grand Californian Hotel Opens
January 2, 2001 –
Disneyland – Anaheim, CA
The Disneyland
Resort unveils its’ brand new Grand
Californian Hotel, built on the former parking lot of Disneyland as the company has transformed the original Disney park
into a multi-park, multi-day destination.
The new hotel features 2 full-service restaurants: Storytellers
Cafe & Napa Rose, and the Whitewater Snacks quick-service snack
bar, as well as high-end rooms and service.
It is the company’s first domestic theme park located inside a Disney
theme park – the all-new Disney’s
California Adventure opening in February 2001, and features a private
entrance directly from the hotel into the Condor
Flats area of the theme park.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Today in Disney Parks and Resorts History - New in Fantasyland and Epcot
January 1, 1959 –
Disneyland – Anaheim, CA
The Fantasyland
Autopia, sponsored by the Richfield Oil Company, opens in Disneyland,
offering a second version of the beloved Tomorrowland
attraction.
January 1, 1997 –
Walt Disney World – Lake Buena Vista, FL
Two new musical groups debut at Walt Disney World in Epcot’s
World Showcase: Off
Kilter in the Canada Pavilion, and The
British Invasion in the United Kingdom pavilion. Off Kilter is a Celtic rock band performing
on a stage located between the Canada and United Kingdom pavilions, and The
British Invasion is a quartet celebrating the famed 1960’s songs of the
Beatles, playing in the gardens at the back of the United Kingdom pavilion.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Today in Disney Parks and Resorts History - Candlelight at Disneyland
December 21, 1958 –
Disneyland – Anaheim, CA
Disneyland
presents the very first Candlelight Processional Parade. Hosted by
actor Dennis Morgan, it is performed on Main
Street, U.S.A. and in Town Square.
The event was conceived by Dr. Charles Hirt of the University of Southern
California School of Music and features a large choir from schools invited from
around Southern California to proceed down Main Street while singing Christmas
carols prior to the re-telling of the birth of Jesus in front of the Train
Station in Town Square. (This event will become a Christmas-season
tradition at the park, and later be copied at Walt Disney World in 1971, where
it would also become a Christmas-season tradition).
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Today in Disney Parks and Resorts History - Roy O Disney Passes Away
December 20, 1971 –
Burbank, CA
Roy O. Disney,
Walt's older brother and lifelong business partner, and co-founder of Walt
Disney Productions, passes away at the age of 78 from a cerebral hemorrhage. Roy served as the company's Chief Executive Officer
(1929–1971) and President (1945–1971). While Walt was the creative man, Roy was
the one who made sure the company was financially stable - and it was Roy who
made sure that Walt’s last dream came to fruition. Roy made sure that the company pressed
forward with Disney World, but even taking it a step further and renaming the
project Walt Disney World so
that the world would always remember whose dream it truly was. With both Disney
brothers gone, the board of directors for the first time will have to turn
outside the Disney family for leadership.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Today in Disney Parks and Resorts History - Candlelight Processional
December 18, 1971 –
Walt Disney World – Lake Buena Vista, FL
Walt Disney World's
very first Candlelight Processional
is held. Modeled after the Candlelight
Processional that has been a staple of Christmas season entertainment at Disneyland since 1958, the processional
travels up Main Street, U.S.A. from Town Square to the forecourt of Cinderella Castle where a performance
featuring a mass choir of 1,200 carolers from across Florida takes place, with movie
star Rock Hudson narrating the Christmas story.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Today in Disney Parks and Resorts History - WED Enterprises
December 16, 1952 –
Burbank, CA
WED Enterprises
is founded as a private company owned solely by Walt Disney to design and create
Disneyland and to manage Disney's
personal assets. WED stands for Walter Elias Disney. Already hard at work on the theme park project
are Walt's first 3 Imagineers - Harriet Burns, Fred Joerger and Wathel Rogers. (In
1982 the Disney family sold the company to Walt Disney Productions, and in 1986
WED was renamed renamed Walt Disney Imagineering.)
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Today in Disney Parks and Resorts History - Walt Disney Passes Away
Walter Elias
Disney passes away at St. Joseph's Hospital of acute circulatory collapse,
as a result of lung cancer, just ten days after his 65th birthday. The flags on Main Street, U.S.A. at Disneyland are flown at half-staff, as the park opens at Lillian Disney's request to honor her belief that Walt would have wanted the show to go on. Walt's 74-year old brother Roy determines to postpone his retirement in order to pursue Walt's last dream, the recently announced construction of Walt Disney World in Florida.
December 15, 1973 –
Walt Disney World – Lake Buena Vista, FL
The Pirates of the
Caribbean attraction officially opens in Adventureland at Walt Disney
World’s Magic Kingdom. Housed in
a golden Spanish fort called Castillo Del Morro, it is located in the all-new Caribbean
Plaza expansion area of Adventureland.
It is based on the original attraction of the same name which opened 6
years earlier at Disneyland and
features 125 Audio-Anamatronics (comprised of 65 pirates & villagers and 60
animals). Guests ride in batueax through
flumes filled with 155,000 gallons of water, and unlike the Disneyland original
go down one 14-foot drop instead of two drops, which is due to the higher water
table in Florida than Southern California.
December 15, 1989 –
Walt Disney World – Lake Buena Vista, FL
Star Tours officially
opens at the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park
at Walt Disney World. It is the
first attraction to open in the park's new Backlot
Annex area. Based on the successful Star
Wars franchise of movies, it is Disney's 3rd version of the attraction, having
first opened at Disneyland in 1986
and Tokyo Disneyland in July 1989.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Today in Disney Parks and Resorts History - Disney's POP Century Resort Opens
December 14, 2003 –
Walt Disney World – Lake Buena Vista, FL
After many delays Walt Disney World's newest-value level resort, POP
Century Resort finally opens for business.
The resort is located at 1050 Century Drive, near the Disney-MGM Studios
theme park and the expansive Wide World of Sports complex. It features 2,880 guest rooms.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Today in Disney Parks and Resorts History - Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel
December 12, 2000 –
Disneyland – Anaheim, CA
The Disneyland
Pacific Hotel re-opens as Disney's Paradise
Pier Hotel. The 502-room hotel has been brightly painted and decorated to
reflect a new beachfront theme, and soon will offer hotel guests a private
entrance into the Paradise Pier section
of the all-new theme park located directly across the street, Disney's California Adventure, which is
currently under construction on the site of Disneyland’s former parking lot. (Disney California Adventure would celebrate its’ Grand Opening
February 8, 2001).
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Today in Disney Parks and Resorts History - Disneyland Pacific Hotel
December 11, 1995 –
Disneyland – Anaheim, CA
The Disneyland
Pacific Hotel – formerly known as the Pan
Pacific Hotel - opens in Anaheim under Disney ownership. The hotel was
originally built and owned by Japan-based Tokyu Group, and opened in 1984 as
the Emerald of Anaheim, in 1989 renamed the Pan Pacific Hotel when Tokyu merged its Emerald and Pan Pacific
hotel divisions. The Walt Disney Company
purchased the hotel in 1995 renaming it the Disneyland Pacific Hotel, again renaming it in December 2000 to its’
current name, Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel.
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