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Lost Boy
09-04-2003, 07:58 AM
In today's column on MiceAge, Al mentions the new nightime show for Disneyland's 50th. He states that they are working on the idea of huge searchlights from all over Disneyland being integrated into the Fireworks. I wonder if Al was around for the 30th Anniversary at Disneyland as that is exactly what they did to augment the Fantasy In The Sky Fireworks show for the celebration that year. There were huge bright and colored searchlights from Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, several point on Main Street, the Main Entrance area and Frontierland. All aimed into the sky above the Castle and moving in time to the music. They added some special firworks displays as well. I have it on video and was just looking at it the other night while searching for something else, and it brought back a lot of memories of the great celebrations the Park used to do for the big anniversaries.

The 25th they stayed open all night on the actual birthday, gave away cars and introduced a fantastic stage show, "One Man's Dream". The 30th they had a new slightly different version of the fireworks show, a new parade and some other good things. On the 40th the had the time capsule, a big sign on the Matterhorn, a new parade and some other things. Any of this sound familier to what they are planning for the 50th? None of these big birthday parties, as far as I can remember and I may be wrong, there were no big E-Ticket rides premiered for the anniversaries. Just new fireworks, parades, shows and some kind of prize giveaways.

So I don't know why everybody is gripping that we are not getting any new attractions (although I do agree that some new E-Ticket attractions are needed very badly) and only getting a new fireworks show and parade. That's all we ever got in the past! We are getting some neat stuff, and they seem to be adding things as we get closer to the 50th. I would love to see a new attraction, but we all know that ain't going to happen. It never has, so why should it be any different for the 50th? I realize the 50th is a monumental anniversary and agree they should do something really big and spectacular, but I don't think that's going to happen either with the current mind set of TDA and the big boss in Glendale.

Duane
09-04-2003, 09:57 AM
As far as new attractions for the 50th, who really knows if any will be introduced. I honestly hope there will be some unexpected announcements in the near future. One thing I have noticed over the past 2 years is all of the negative criticism toward Disney. Some of it has truth while a lot of it is pure ignorance. One example is the seasonal reduction of certain restaurants in the parks. Disney has always made reduced operation of some restaurants during slow season. They also have reduced the number of monorails in service during off season. The big complaint I presently read about is the absence of attractions in Tomorrowland. If you remember a few years ago, Tomorrowland was completely redone. What happened, everyone moaned and groaned about what a failure it turned out to be. Disney lost a tremendous amount of money on this redesign and probably will be super cautious with their investing in the future. I give them credit for making an attempt to develop something new and exciting even though it did not turn out well. Even Walt made mistakes with his ideas and had failures. I have faith that the company will not let us down in the long run, give Mickey a chance!

innerSpaceman
09-04-2003, 10:04 AM
I'm with Lost Boy on this one. I don't care about anything for the 50th anniversary but a great event on July 17, 2005.

merlinjones
09-04-2003, 10:07 AM
>>The big complaint I presently read about is the absence of attractions in Tomorrowland. If you
remember a few years ago, Tomorrowland was completely redone. What happened, everyone moaned and groaned about what a failure it turned out to be. <<

It WAS a failure. Not just griping. This is now OUR fault?

>>Disney lost a tremendous amount of money on this redesign and probably will be super cautious with their investing in the future. <<

No matter which way you slice it, it comes up peanuts. That's the plan no matter how the dreck turns out or who responds. Shallow investment school 1-A thinking. I prefer reality - - if you don't have a good product, worthy of the Disney name, people won't come.

>>I give them credit for making an attempt to develop something new and exciting even though it did not turn out well. <<

They didn't try to develop something new and exciting. They conciously, purposefully and cynically slashed budgets, played internal politics and made stupid choices with an indifference toward those who knew what they were doing and toward history and toward quality and innovation. They thought they could snow the consumer for short term gain.

You are highly misinformed.... or simply starry eyed.

TP2000
09-04-2003, 12:35 PM
I don't want a E Ticket specifically for the 50th... I just want a darn E Ticket PERIOD! It will have been over a DECADE since the last E Ticket opened at Disneyland by the time a new one is built! Indy opened in March, 1995, over 8 years ago now. And there is nothing planned to be built in Disneyland yet, so 2006 is the very earliest an E Ticket could open.

Of course most of the past major anniversaries didn't have an E Ticket open, but that was because they had major E Tickets open within 1 to 3 years prior to the "Anniversary".

1980- 25th Silver Anniversary
1979- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
1978- Redone Matterhorn
1977- Space Mountain


1985- 30th Anniversary (attraction lull in early 80's while they opened Epcot)
1983- Remade Fantasyland

1990- 35th Anniversary
1989- Splash Mountain
1987- Star Tours

1995- 40th Anniversary
1995- Indiana Jones Adventure
1994- Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin
1993- Mickey's Toontown
1992- Fantasmic!

2000- 45th Anniversary (ending of brief Pressler era)
2000- Remade Autopia
1998- Rocket Rods and New Tomorrowland (ha!)

2005- 50th Golden Anniversary
2003- Winnie The Pooh?

Disneyland needs E Tickets! And wouldn't it have been nice to do something for the 50th with an E Ticket like they did back in '95? Who could have ever thought in '95 that Indy would be the last E Ticket to be built until after the 50th Anniversary???

zapppop
09-04-2003, 04:04 PM
Originally posted by Duane
The big complaint I presently read about is the absence of attractions in Tomorrowland. If you remember a few years ago, Tomorrowland was completely redone. What happened, everyone moaned and groaned about what a failure it turned out to be. Disney lost a tremendous amount of money on this redesign and probably will be super cautious with their investing in the future.

Do you know how much money TDA spent redesigning Tomorrowland ? $100 million.....the same price as a single E-Ticket attraction. One quarter of that money was spent on the Rocket Rods alone. It was not a tremendous amount of money. It was not enough to remodel Tomorrowland so corners were cut and the finished product was a let down.


TP2000:Pinocchio's Daring Journey replaced the old Fantasyland Theater in 1983, so that's 1 new attraction that came in the early 80's ( even though it's not an E-Ticket ).

It sounds like the 50th anniversary will be not much different than any other anniversary, so my expectations are getting rather low. I'm not expecting much more than some decorations and merchandise. Even if it turns out somewhatokay, I'll still be upset over the loss of Believe. The closer this anniversary comes the less I'm looking forward to it.

sleepyjeff
09-04-2003, 04:21 PM
The ironic thing is that you can bet that all the other "Magic Kingdoms" (ie Tokyo Disneyland, WDW MK, & Disneyland Paris) will probably have better Birthday Celebrations for this milestone in 2005 than the original Park in Anaheim.

Book your trip to Japan now!

innerSpaceman
09-04-2003, 04:34 PM
So little was needed to make Disneyland's 30th Year the most amazing post-Walt year in its history, and so little was needed to make Disneyland's 30th Birthday the single best event EVER held in the Park.

It will not take a miracle, it will not take millions of dollars to make the 50th anniversary a success. All it will take is the will.

cemeinke
09-04-2003, 07:47 PM
I'm with InnerSpaceman on this - throw a big enough party, and I will be happy with the 50th.

disney_leonard
09-04-2003, 10:00 PM
Seems like we're forgetting that rather large investment they made called DCA. If you add the $ spent developing and building DCA, Disney has spent more in So. Cal than in any other decade.

zapppop
09-04-2003, 10:05 PM
Funny, I don't recall a section of Disneyland called " DCA " ...:confused:

Duane
09-05-2003, 10:04 AM
Disneyland spent 100 million on Tomorrowland, this seems to me like a ton of money considering the buildings and old Peoplemover track were still in tact. Nothing had to be built from the ground up. I could do a lot with 25 million dollars as far as redesigning an attraction (rocket rods). I just believe their ideas failed and they're being cautious before reinvesting. I have read threads where people suggest bringing back the Peoplemovers and then someone else will comment that they hate them and do not want them to return. The same threads have been posted in regards to the submarines as well. Disney will never be able to please everyone.

Tigertail777
09-05-2003, 05:48 PM
Something you have to keep in mind about the New Tomorrowland, and the Rocket Rods ride in particular: there was very little actual testing for wear and tear and how things would work under extreme conditions. This is something Walt insisted on quite frequently; spend the money NOW to test the new stuff out and make sure it will work (the only real exception in Walts time, and he learned from his mistake was the flying saucers).

The new Tomorrowland had soooo many untested things:

Rocket Rods wasn't tested under extreme conditions, and in rain in particular, not to mention the peoplemover track was not tested for stress BEFORE the full attraction got underway, and its very possible to do that, so don't fool yourself.

The water ball thing (forget the name).. common sense here, not to mention no research. First of all, you have to KNOW you put in a water fountain and people are going to play in it consistantly, and its a no brainer you will have to add somethign to the water to keep it clean. You need only to contact waterpark specialist companys to find out what the chemicals in the water will do to foam padding. I have a file full of brochures for all of those kind of companys.. if I can do it, why can't Disney?

Gold paint: OK I am not an expert painter, but I KNOW for a fact that gold paint is absolutely THE hardest paint to keep up. A little research would reveal that the binder in the paint, and the gold mettalllic flakes that give it the gold color seperate VERY EASY, which means it flakes and cracks very fast. If they wanted to go with the gold scheme, it would have been more pricey now, but cheaper in the long run to cover the parts they wanted gold in plastic gold strips, or thin oxidize treated metal strips. The color would last for YEARS this way, and it would be very easy to clean with pressure washing.
There is more than one reason Walt painted Tomorrowland white: its futuristic yes, but its also the cheapest paint to buy, so cheap to do constant touch ups, and its also one of the most stable colors you can buy.

That decorative moving sattelite dish thing: There is a reason that Walt left the kinetic movement in Tomorrowland up to the rides, and didnt make some elaborate moving display. The more something moves, and particularly if it moves a LOT over an extended time, the more its going to break down. Rides obviously need maintenance constantly, but is there really a budget to constantly fix a moving mobile?

sleepyjeff
09-06-2003, 07:11 AM
At the current rate of attraction failures taking them out of service for extended periods of time, not to mention all the attractions that are simply closed for good with no replacement........the stress on the remaining rides will increase causing them to need longer and longer refurbishments.............................maybe Disneyland will throw a HUGE Super Party for the 50th.............................................. .................a SORRY WE'RE CLOSED FOR EVER party. But we will still have dca :mad:

merlinjones
09-06-2003, 07:36 AM
>>Disneyland spent 100 million on Tomorrowland, this seems to me like a ton of money considering the buildings and old Peoplemover track were still in tact. <<

From posts at the time I remember clearly that the original agreed upon budget was to have been 200 million to do the whole land and the specific rides entailed, then the budget was cut and recut after the fact - - ultimately cut in half!

In order to function properly, Rocket Rods were to have had banked turns, something that was cut out of the budget after sponsors bailed. The resulting ride never worked. Blame the accountaneers for the failure of Tomorrowland 98 (not that creative was up to par on this effort either, there are priorities way out of whack all around). Then management meddling problems - - by all accounts it was Pressler who insisted that the Rocket Jets be relocated to the entrance - - how much wasted money was that?