The best way to sum up my thoughts on the big 60th announcement for Disneyland Resort is a quote from The Lost World: Jurassic Park “Oh yeah “Ooh, aah”, that’s how it always starts. But then there’s running and screaming.” For over 30 years I have been a diehard Disney fan with every 5 years comes the big announcement of the anniversary year and the 60th is by far one of the biggest to date…kinda! If you look at the lineup of entertainment it is very similar to the 40th and 50th with a new parade and fireworks show, of course the 40th was actually the biggest to date because it included the Indiana Jones attraction opening, but this is the first time in nearly 20 years a night time parade is going to be added back to the place it all started, Disneyland Park.
This article is really just one Disneyland fan who has made a point of being there for all the big events looking at what they are teasing us 3 months before it happens, but I think I will make some good points as we look at each of the key points they announced.
60th Icon dressing – Both Sleeping Beauty Castle and Carthay Circle will be dressed with a diamond overlay. From the concept art this looks very nice and far more subtle than the crowning of the turrets for Disneyland’s 50th and will add just enough to both that it won’t distract from the beauty of both of these now iconic buildings for guests that have never seen them before.
“World of Color – Celebrate! The Wonderful World of Walt Disney” – sounds like they have taken the “Remember…Dreams Come True” fireworks from Disneyland and turned them into visuals for DCA. While World of Color has never been a must see for me, it’s water, I do enjoy how in its short time they have been able to change and update more times than I can count and this one sounds like it will finally add the “story” to the show that has been missing. This will undoubtedly will tug on the Disneyland fans heart strings but I don’t know if it will do what the basic idea of WoC has always been, to draw guest from Disneyland over to DCA to alleviate overcrowding that Disneyland has suffered from since the days of the Main Street Electrical Parade “Glowing Away.” Speaking of Disneyland…
“Disneyland Forever” fireworks – I am a sucker for Steve Davison fireworks, Remember…Dreams Come True, to this day, is the most spectacular nighttime show next to Fantasmic! Forever sounds like it will be just that next step that takes fireworks from “boom boom in the sky” to painting the night sky with a palette of colors that makes us stop dead in our tracks to look up each night. The adding of the projections sounds like it will help move the classic Disney stories from just the sky or the Castle to all around the park.
The “all around the park” is really where my quote that started this came from, since Disneyland moved from just the original “Fantasy in the Sky” fireworks with shells going off in the sky with some Disney and patriotic music in the background to the storytelling of more recent shows, the park has changed and not always for the best. As a child I can remember running around the park getting on attractions while the fireworks were going, but since 1999 and “Believe…There’s Magic in the Stars” people have lined Main Street and gathered around the Hub hours before the nightly fireworks which has caused the park to almost shut down. Getting from Splash to Space was next to impossible due to roundabouts in the Hub and Fantasyland being shut down due to Castle pyro. So here is really hoping that the projections and all the problems they have learned from the past 15+ years are taken into consideration for this show! But no matter what Disneyland will never be the same due to…
Paint The Night – For anyone who has not had a chance to see this newest incarnation of a Main Street Electrical Parade do yourself a favor and head to YouTube and find a video. It won’t spoil you so much as make you more excited! But while this parade is going to add a piece of much missed entertainment to Disneyland Park, I think it will also change the park after sundown forever. People have been camping out for fireworks for years and now adding an amazing parade to the mix will cause the park is just going to shut down after sunset if not hours before. For those of you that don’t remember, when the original Main St. Electrical Parade was glowing away people were fighting for spots along the route. I feel this is going to just multiply that tenfold. Think of when Soundsational Parade has been performed later in the day or the night time Christmas Fantasy parade and how packed the route is with guest control cast members trying to keep guests moving. Then think of the traffic with Paint The Night followed by Disneyland Forever plus Fantasmic! and then of course another Fantasmic! and Paint The Night. Even with the new Main St. bypass, convenient how they built that just in time for this, I see a scary time for those busy weekend nights and let’s not even talk about a 4th of July crowd!
So as I said at the start ooh and aah now but running and screaming will happen, but I will be right there with you because no matter how scary I am picturing the crowds I cannot wait to cry like a baby to Disneyland Forever with a new Richard Sherman song and have my eyeballs explode with colors brighter than I have ever seen from Paint The Night!