Whose Disneyland Is It Anyway?

First published June 17, 2003

By C. W. Oberleitner

C. W. Oberleitner brings us more news of the continuing saga of the closure of Disneyland for the world premiere of Walt Disney Pictures "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl." Chuck follows up his April column on this unprecedented event in Disneyland's history and the profound impact the closure is having on cast members all around the Disneyland Resort.

For months now entertainment news websites like this one, along with fan and rumor sites of all types, have featured stories about the coming world premiere of Walt Disney Pictures big summer film release Pirates of The Caribbean The Curse of The Black Pearl. The film, a Jerry Bruckheimer co-production with Walt Disney Pictures stars Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush and Orlando Bloom. Its story is inspired by the popular Disneyland attraction Pirates of The Caribbean.

It is because of this relationship between the movie and one of Disneyland's most popular attractions that the decision was made to hold the premiere at Disneyland. Not in one of the Disneyland Resort's fully equipped theatres but rather in a temporary outdoor theatre to be constructed on the banks of the Rivers of America. The film will be shown on a giant screen to be erected in front of Tom Sawyer's Island across from the entrance to the Pirates ride in the heart of Disneyland's New Orleans Square.

At first details of just how The Walt Disney Company was planning to accommodate a major celebrity filled event and as many as sixty thousand of Disneyland's regular June visitors were sketchy at best. It was generally believed that only the West side of Disneyland, home to Frontierland, Adventureland, New Orleans Square and Critter Country would be closed to guests late on the afternoon of the premiere. Then in early April came word from DLR cast members that "the studio in Burbank" had informed TDA (Team Disney Anaheim) that they (the studio) would be taking over the entire park at six o'clock on the afternoon of Saturday June 28.

The fact that Disneyland would be closing at six pm on a Saturday during one of its busiest times of the year was first reported by this website on April 8. For two weeks following this report, no one from Disneyland Resort media relations would either confirm or deny this story. Then in late April the Disneyland Resort website updated Disneyland's scheduled hours of operation. The new schedule confirmed that the park would indeed close at six pm on the afternoon of Saturday June 28. The following announcement was also added to the site.

Due to the Disneyland® park world premiere of The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl movie on June 28, Resort attractions, show schedules and operating hours will be affected.

Those effects include the cancellation of the very popular Believe There's Magic In The Stars fireworks show, both of the regularly scheduled performances of Fantasmic and the live swing band performances in the Plaza Gardens. There will be no evening parade and quite possibly no daytime parade either. The back stage area, used to house floats between parades, may be used as a staging area for red carpets, risers and other materials needed to create a runway for the premier.

It should also be noted that in an effort to provide guests with a full day at Disneyland the park's opening was moved from 8:00 AM to 6:30 AM on Friday June 27 as well as Saturday June 28. In addition Disneyland's sister park, Disney's California Adventure will extend its closing from its regularly scheduled time of 9:00 PM to midnight on Saturday the 28th.

Theme Park 101 Hard Vs Soft Closing

Almost immediately after reporting that Disneyland would be showing guests to the front gate between 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM on the afternoon of June 28 I began hearing from sources both directly and indirectly connected to the Disneyland Resort. They told me that I had gotten the story wrong. They said what I had been describing was a "hard closing" of the park and what would actually be happening was a "soft closing."

At Disney theme parks a "hard closing" involves shutting down all the rides and attractions and gently herding guests out the front gates. It is preceded by that announcement you hear at the end of the day telling you that the park is closed and that the shops will remain open for an additional hour for your shopping convenience.

A "soft closing" involves the early suspension of ticket sales for a given day's admission to a park. Soft closings most often occur when attendance at a park reaches the park's maximum guest capacity. People with tickets, or passports as they are known at Disney parks, can stay in the park, exit and re-enter with a hand stamp until the posted closing hour. Visitors arriving after ticket sales are suspended are politely refused admission.

More than once I was told that on the afternoon of June 28, ticket or passport sales for Disneyland would be suspended around four o'clock in the afternoon. Guests would be informed that the west side of the park would be closing at six for the Pirates movie premier. And, if they chose to leave the park after six, park guests would not be allowed to re-enter.

While many of the people offering this information work for the Disneyland Resort most of them were not people I have come to rely on for park and resort news. For this reason I have repeatedly attempted to corroborate this information. To date other than the item mentioning the Pirates of The Caribbean The Curse of The Black Pearl world premier on the Disneyland website there has been no formal announcement from the DLR regarding details of how the six pm closing of Disneyland will take place.

A cast member from ticket sales told me that it was her understanding that the June 28 six pm closing was to be a hard closing and that the park would in fact be "swept" of guests to accommodate the movie premier.

When I asked her why so many cast members insisted that guests would still be allowed in the park after six she responded. "There's a lot of wishful thinking among Disneyland's cast members." She added that both she and many of her fellow CMs were "very disappointed" with the early Saturday closing of Disneyland.

While covering week two of Super Soap Weekends I had an opportunity to talk about many things with cast members from all around the Disneyland Resort. From early morning until early evening the topic that came up time and again was the closing of Disneyland for the Pirates movie premier. Cast member after cast member from guest relations to operations would tell me that it would be a "soft closing." And, just as many CMs from security to TDA management regrettably confirmed that Disneyland would in fact hard close and ask all of its guests to leave at six o'clock that evening.

Since I had access to members of the Disneyland Resort's media relations department I asked several of them what type of closing was planned for the 28th. They were, as always, very polite while reminding me that we were all there that day to focus on the Super Soap Weekends events. The closest I got to a confirmation or denial of a hard closing of Disneyland came from a media relations manager who said that while he thought it was going to be a hard closing he hadn't seen any official statement yet. He went on to say that they (DLR media relations) would eventually get something out to the media. I took this to mean that DLR media relations would prefer this not become a publicized event.

A Message Comes Through

One thing about my talks that day with DLR cast members did become apparent. The great majority of them are not at all pleased with the idea of having to disappoint thousands of Disneyland's guests.

From the tone of their voices you could tell that even those cast members that insisted there would be a soft closing were just hoping against hope. It was as if to their way of thinking enough people said that Disneyland would remain open -- as it always has on summer Saturday nights for nearly forty eight years -- then the company would have no choice but to keep the park open.

Regardless of whether they believed in a soft closing or they were resigned to the reality of a hard closing the sense of betrayal by Burbank on the part of CMs that day was palpable.

At one point while discussing the early closing with a group of colleagues and a few CMs the matter of security for the premier came up. I mentioned that I had heard that it was possible that the studio was even going to use it's own security instead of DLR security. At the time a uniformed member of Disneyland Resort Security was standing just to my left.

It was late in the day and this very professional security officer had been on duty for hours. Throughout the day I watched as reporters, ABC executives, famous daytime TV stars and all manner of invited guests milled around this particular officer's station. Regardless of who may have been talking to whom about what this dedicated young person remained quiet and reserved. That was until I made my comment about security for the Pirates movie premier.

Apparently the idea that Walt Disney Pictures does not want to risk Johnny Depp's or any other invited VIPs security on DLR Security personnel was right on the money. For the first time that day this very resolute DLR Security guard sprang to life and joined our conversation without a moment's hesitation. Those of us assembled there were told in no uncertain terms that the idea that DLR Security's services were not deemed good enough for Walt Disney Pictures was not going over well at all among the members of DLR Security.

It's important here to recall one thing. Following the events of 9/11 and prior to, during and following the Iraqi War every man woman and child who has visited any part of the Disneyland Resort has owed a great deal of their personal safety and security to the dedication and hard work of the men and women of Disneyland Resort Security. Aided by the Anaheim Police Department and with assistance from several federal agencies DLR Security has done a remarkable job keeping the resort a worry free heaven for its guests.

Some of the folks who work for Disney Travel have begun to feel like, "used car salesmen." Vacation packages are very often booked months in advance. Because of the re-shuffling of events for the Pirates premier some of these folks feel that they've booked guest vacations under what are at the very least misleading circumstances.

Sources inside Disney Travel told me that they spend hours each day telephoning people with reservations for the week of the premier to inform them of the scheduling changes. Guests are being offered a variety of "make up" certificates for meals at various restaurants around the resort.

I asked why, just three weeks before the premier, Disney Travel was just now informing guests about the scheduling changes. I was told that despite the fact that months earlier Disney headquarters in Burbank had made the decision to use Disneyland for the premier Disney Travel had no advanced notice about the changes in Disneyland's schedule. It had taken that long to react to the announcement and come up with plans to accommodate guests who might otherwise be inconvenienced by the changes.

It wasn't until the changes in Disneyland's operating hours appeared on the Disneyland website that the message from Burbank became clear to everyone connected with the Disneyland Resort.

As far as management of The Walt Disney Company was concerned Disneyland is just another piece of property. The company wanted to use the park for a film premier and that was all there was to the discussion. Disneyland community and guest relations never entered into the picture.

Big Deal

Some might ask; what's the big deal with closing a theme park a few hours early? The six pm closing of Disneyland on Saturday June 28 will affect many more people than just those who plan on visiting Disneyland that day.

The construction and tear down of the outdoor seating and movie screen for the film's premier will take place on and around The Rivers of America in New Orleans Square the week before and the week following the premier. During that time, large portions of the walkways around the Rivers of America will have to be cordoned off for safety. The constriction of walkways around the river will cram summertime Disneyland crowds into much narrower paths on there way to and from Splash Mountain, the new Winnie The Pooh ride, New Orleans Square and the remainder of Disneyland.

Tens of thousands of people plan their summer time trips to Disneyland with the expectation of being able to enjoy one or both of the park's two nightly performances of Fantasmic. Fantasmic takes place in exactly the same location the Pirates of The Caribbean film will be shown. Currently according to the Disneyland website regularly scheduled performances of Fantasmic will end with the June 23^rd performances and they won't resume again until July 2.

With between four and five -- depending on how you count them -- attractions in Tomorrowland closed for the foreseeable future some would argue that Disneyland is already hobbling into the 2003 summer season. Between the parks decreased capacity to entertain guests due to ride closures and the problems being created by the Pirates movie premier the Walt Disney Company does not appear to be concerned in the least with either the quality of guest experience or cast moral at its original and one time flagship theme park. Which begs the question whose Disneyland is it anyway?

What of The Future

Pirates of The Caribbean The Curse of The Black Pearl isn't the only film based on a popular Disneyland attraction that Walt Disney Pictures has in the works. Due this fall is The Haunted Mansion starring Eddie Murphy.

The Haunted Mansion, based in part on the Disneyland attraction of the same name is currently scheduled for release on November 26 of this year. Movie premiers typically take place a week or two before the opening of a film. This would mean that the premier for The Haunted Mansion would be some time in early to mid November.

Having staged one world premier of a film based on a popular Disneyland attraction directly in front of that attraction is it too far fetched to think that Walt Disney Pictures may want to do the same for a second. After all Disneyland's Haunted Mansion is just a few yards to the west of the Pirates of The Caribbean ride and it too faces Tom Sawyer Island across The Rivers of America.

When Walt Disney Pictures' The Haunted Mansion is ready to debut the Disneyland version of The Haunted Mansion will probably be themed to another film altogether. For the past two years Disneyland has drawn huge crowds for what has become an annual event, Haunted Mansion Holiday. Based on Tim Burton's 1993 film The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Haunted Mansion Holiday draws large crowds and long lines from early October to mid January.

Will the executives in Burbank be just as callus about the operation of Disneyland when it comes time to promote The Haunted Mansion movie? Will they insist on stripping out one of Disneyland's most popular autumnal attractions and once again during a peak season for park attendance demand that Disneyland close its gates to holiday visitors?

As one long time Disneyland Annual Passport holder told me. "One can only hope that if the premier for The Haunted Mansion movie is to be held in front of the ride of the same name that Walt Disney Pictures chooses to honor The Haunted Mansion at Walt Disney World."

C'ya real soon!