DISNEYLAND, CA—Under cloudy grey skies, nearly five thousand lucky contest winners from the ranks of Disneyland annual passholders and radio stations from around the country joined an army of what appeared to be half again as many members of the world's media. All had converged on the Happiest Place on Earth for previews of the park's new parade, fireworks, exhibits, and other elements of Disneyland's 50^th Anniversary celebration.

Despite the overcast skies, the shops on Disneyland's Main Street USA glistened in the high-intensity lighting used to film today's first event, a performance of Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams. The crowds cheered, roared, and applauded as the spectacular floats representing some of Disneyland's most famous attractions, based on some of Disney studios most famous animated films, rolled by them.

The Parade of Dreams signature song Welcome, from Walt Disney Pictures Brother Bear, brought tears of joy from children and adults alike as they sang along with the parade's singers and dancers during the "streetaculars" performance stops.

Following the parade, guests eagerly began talking about their favorite floats and performance elements. I spoke with a group of guests from Brea, California who loved the parade and were particularly taken with the Pinocchio unit and its live action, acrobatic puppets.

Stay with us as we update events as they unfold from the original Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney's Disneyland!

As chief Mouseketter Jimmy Dodd used to say, "C'ya real soon!"