Welcome to Extinct Attractions. As the summer comes to an end, it seemed like as good a time as any for a summer-themed attraction to look back on.
Via Marvel
This summer, Disney California Adventure has had a limited time summer show called Rogers the Musical, centered around Captain America himself, Steve Rogers. The show has been successful, drawing in all ages of audiences with its catchy songs and tongue in cheek humor.
A show centered around Marvel characters at a Disney park is still a relatively new phenomenon with Avengers Campus opening in 2021 (though characters had been meeting there throughout the 2010s). Up until 2008, Universal Studios had the exclusive rights to Marvel characters at the Disneyland parks, so when Disney California Adventure opened on February 8, 2001, Disney could not rely on Marvel characters to drive attendance. (Plus, they didn’t own Marvel yet.)
During California Adventure’s earliest days, the park did not really have a sense of identity, with a wide swath of attractions all centered around the state of California. The park cycled through a lot of different ideas, particularly when it came to shows and live entertainment, with almost every show or parade from the first year quickly replaced. When it came time to replace Lights, Camera, Chaos on the Hollywood Backlot Stage, Disney decided to look at Goofy and Max as the stars. An Extremely Goofy Movie was released in 2000, so the characters were still fresh in the audience's minds when Goofy’s Beach Party Bash debuted in 2002.
There’s really not much more to say about the history of the attraction, so let’s dive into the show itself, starting with its interesting approach. When California Adventure opened, the Hollywood Pictures Backlot land was basically a miniature Disney-MGM Studios, with a major focus on how movies were made. They utilized that framework in Goofy’s Beach Party Bash with the crowd asked to serve as extras in the film that would star Goofy and Max.
To piece the show together, none other than Donald Duck served as the director, with the “assistant director” introducing him as similar to Quentin Quackarino. Donald would be guiding us through four different scenes that needed to be completed for the movie to wrap.
Via YouTube
The first scene of the show saw Goofy and Max getting ready for some time on the beach. When it was time to head over, Goofy whipped off his trench coat to reveal an old school swimsuit that pushed Max to the edge in terms of raw embarrassment. Donald called “Cut” before a little dance number ensued and the assistant director moved Goofy and Max offstage while referring to them as dogs (which is correct, but also odd).
Scene Two saw Goofy and Max make it to the beach for some surfing lessons before the waves got a bit too gnarly and things started to go awry, Luckily, Mickey and Minnie were scooting along at the time on some water skis to help rescue them and bring them back to the safety of the beach.
Via YouTube
The third scene shifted the focus to Mickey and Minnie who were having a nice romantic picnic together while a bunch of background dancers helped with the adorable serenading between the two of them. It was an adorable little moment that gave me some vibes of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway.
To close out the fourth and final scene, there was a big song and dance number that basically summed the entire show up, tying together the entire beach party and giving kids a fun chance to dance as extras. As an added bonus, the characters would meet with guests after the show, so they could meet real life movie stars.
And that about sums up Goofy’s Beach Party Bash. It was a fine little diversion in a park that needed diversions, but it was almost instantly forgettable. In fact, I almost forgot I was writing about it this week as soon as I watched the video of it. It ended up closing the next year to be replaced by the Department of Untapped Hilarity as Disney continued to search for the winning formula on that stage (and honestly still continue to try to find the right show to this day).
Via Bookbub
As always, don’t forget to check out my interactive maps of the Disney Parks throughout the years where you can watch or learn more about all the attractions from every Disney park around the world.
Thanks for reading and have a magical day!