Reporter's Notebook: The Countdown Continues

Published July 16, 2005

By C. W. Oberleitner

There's just one day to go before Disneyland hits the big 5-0. The pace is picking up all around the Disneyland Resort, and there are still far more questions than answers about exactly what and when things are going to happen at Disneyland on what some folks are beginning to fear might be Black Sunday II.

What We Know

Disneyland has confirmed the events commemorating tomorrow's 50^th Anniversary of the Happiest Place on Earth.

Early in the day a specially created window on Main Street U.S.A. will be unveiled as a lasting tribute to Disneyland Resort Cast Members (past, present, and future) who have created Disney magic for millions of Disney guests over the past 50 years.

As guests enter the park, they will be given a set of Golden Mouse Ears and a souvenir program. Every meal purchased at a Disneyland restaurant will include a coupon for a free 50^th Anniversary cupcake.

At 10 a.m., there will be a "very brief" Disneyland rededication ceremony in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Participants selected for this event will mirror those selected by Walt Disney for Disneyland's original dedication on July 17, 1955.

Once again representing the people and the state of California will be the Governor of California. This time it will be Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Representing the Walt Disney Company will be outgoing CEO Michael Eisner and CEO designate Robert Iger. From Disneyland's opening day telecast, host Art Linkletter will emcee the event.

Walt and Lillian Disney's oldest daughter, Diane Disney Miller, will rededicate the park by reading the proclamation her father read dedicating Disneyland 50 years ago. Honored guests seated directly in front of the stage will include Diane Disney Miller's husband, former Walt Disney Productions President Ron Miller, and their family.

Disneyland Resort guests in both Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure will be able to watch the ceremony on a series of Jumbotron monitors set up around the parks.

At precisely 4:45 p.m. PDT, the exact moment Walt Disney first dedicated Disneyland before a television audience of more than 40 million viewers, guests will be asked to pause as a recording of Disney's original dedication is played over Disneyland's public address system and throughout the resort.

Walt Disney inspects the original Magic Kingdom prior to opening.
Image copyright Disney.

What We Don't Know

In Disneyland, at Friday's Space Mountain rededication and again just before the official opening of Turtle Talk with Crush in Disney's California Adventure, cast members from the Disneyland Resort's media relations department were swamped by journalists clamoring for details about where and when guests could begin queuing up before Disneyland's opening at 8 a.m. tomorrow.

At press time there was still no change in the official response from the Disneyland Resort,

The Pumba parking lot will be open early to accommodate guests wishing to arrive early at Disneyland. There will be no overnight camping permitted at the resort

When asked at what time the Pumba parking lot would be opened, a representative of the department said, "We really don't know. No decision has been made yet."

I asked a member of Team Disney Anaheim (TDA), the name given to the Disneyland Resort's management group, if they were trying to suppress the number of people thinking about coming to Disneyland on July 17 by deliberately withholding information.

"All you guys (the media)," he said, "think this is some big conspiracy on our part. It's not. Believe it or not, we honestly haven't decided what to do yet."

He went on to explain that following the huge response to the May 5 kickoff of the Happiest Homecoming on Earth, where more than 62,000 people flooded the gates of Disneyland, and the large crowds that have been visiting the park since that day, few of the park's managers had expected a significant increase in crowds on the park's actual birthday.

My contact also said the subject of large crowds and early arrivals had only come up recently during management meetings, and then only after more and more stories about the subject began appearing on the Internet. Any change in the resort's regularly scheduled operations requires input from a variety of departments. Any change in previously scheduled operations would require increased staffing and support personnel, and that means approval for increased spending, "none of which happens in a hurry."

"To be honest," this TDA executive continued, "I think most people will be put off by the idea of coming on that day precisely because they'll think it will be too crowded to get in."

Choose a Magic Number

Regarding the various theories about exactly how many people will be admitted to Disneyland before the park's operations department, and or the Anaheim Fire Marshall, will be forced to close the gates, it seems as if everybody connected with the park has a theory and no one seems to know for certain what the number is.

Every single Disneyland Resort official I spoke with during Friday's events basically said the same thing, "I really don't know at what point the gates have to be closed." Several of them, however, went on to venture a guess. I heard everything from a low of 65,000 guests, just slightly above the number that came to the park for the May 5 kickoff, to a high of 85,000.

The one thing all of these folks agreed on was that whatever the number is you can be sure of one thing…"It's gonna be awfully crowded inside the park."

It's One Small Step for Man, One Giant Leap for Fun!

That was the headline on the Disneyland press release announcing the official "relaunch" of one of the park's most beloved attractions.

Spaceman Mickey Mouse with the first man to set foot on the lunar surface of the moon U.S. Astronaut Commander Neil Armstrong at the "relaunch" of Disneyland's Space Mountain.
Image, copyright Disney.

Friday morning, as part of the ongoing events commemorating Disneyland's 50^th Anniversary, Disneyland Resort President Mat Ouimet rededicated Space Mountain. Joining Ouimet in the ceremony were Astronaut Mickey Mouse and legendary U.S. Astronaut Commander Neil Armstrong, the first man to step foot on the lunar surface of the moon (July 20, 1969).

Just as he had nearly 36 years earlier on the moon, Armstrong left behind his footprints for a plaque that will be on display in the attraction commemorating his participation in the "relaunch."

Space Mountain, a high-speed interstellar adventure that has enthralled and entertained Disneyland guests since its opening May 27, 1977, recently reopened after nearly two years of being "re-Imagineered" for the 21^st century. While the track layout is identical to the original attraction, the new Space Mountain features all new special effects and a new musical score by composer Michael Giacchino, who wrote the scores for the film The Incredibles and ABC television series Alias, Desperate Housewives, and LOST.

The Space Mountain re-Imagineering team from Walt Disney Imagineering. Image copyright obe-mediaone.

Walt Disney began thinking of building a "Space Port" attraction in the early 1960s. His interest in space exploration was piqued after meeting Wernher von Braun, head of the Marshall Space Flight Center and the U.S. space program. Disney had asked von Braun to consult on the Man in Space series of Tomorrowland programs for the Disneyland television show.

The very first Space Mountain opened in 1975 in the Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World in Florida.

Most Excellent Nemo News

Disney partner Pixar Animation Studios also played a big part in this week's festivities at the Disneyland Resort. Walt Disney Theme Parks and Resorts President Jay Rasulo joined approximately two-dozen children, their parents, and swimmer and Olympic Gold Medalist Amanda Beard for the grand opening of Turtle Talk with Crush in the Animation Building in the Hollywood Pictures back lot section of Disney's California Adventure.

Turtle Talk with Crush is inspired by the Walt Disney Pictures presentation of the Pixar Animation Studios film Finding Nemo.

For those of you with absolutely no interest in green sea turtles, U.S. Olympic Gold Medal swimmer Amanda Beard and Turtle Talk host Kevin.
Image copyright obe-mediaone.

The live, real-time, computer-animated show gives guests the chance to engage in unrehearsed conversations with Nemo's bodacious 152-year-old animated sea turtle. Crush recognizes guests and asks them questions about themselves and the human world. From his digital world under the sea, he chats, plays, jokes, and reacts to guests in a unique, personalized way.

"This new attraction gives guests the most lifelike interaction with a computer animated character that they've ever experienced," said Rasulo. "Disney's Imagineers have used breakthrough innovations to bring Crush the sea turtle to life. He'll hold completely unscripted, real-time conversations with guests. You have to see it to believe it."

The "magic" is created with an innovative combination of digital projection and sophisticated, voice-activated computer animation. The initial version of Turtle Talk opened in 2004 as part of The Living Seas Pavilion at Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

In addition to opening Turtle Talk with Crush, Theme Park and Resorts president Rauslo finally made official what Disneyland fans the world over have known for some time now. "The submarines are coming back," Rasulo said to a resounding round of applause. He was referring to Disneyland's Submarine Lagoon ride.

For several months, park guests have noticed construction fences around the now drained lagoon. Disneyland Monorail passengers have been able to watch the construction work going on in the dry lagoon as well. Nearly eight years ago, Disneyland closed the submarine attraction. The submarine ride vehicles were placed in dry dock and the ride queue turned into a gift shop for the Autotopia attraction.

According to Rasulo, Disneyland's submarine voyage ride will return to daily operation in 2007. The "Subs" as Disneyland fans like to refer to them, will feature a new show and theme concept also inspired by the film Finding Nemo.

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