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Crazytigger
12-05-2001, 09:42 PM
Who was there? What did you think?

I am soo mad I was in the WOD store in DTD with a couple of friends and they opened the park early at about 930. Another freind of mine who got into the park called me on my phone and said that they played Walt's opening day speach. I MISSED IT
ARGGGGGG.

The ceremony was pretty cool thought. Mary Poppins is one of my all time favorite Disney movies, so I especially enjoyed that part.

Morrigoon
12-05-2001, 10:13 PM
TELL TELL!!! We who missed are hungry for it!

stinkerbell
12-05-2001, 10:15 PM
Waaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh! I wanted to be there! My heart is broken........

Crazytigger
12-05-2001, 11:00 PM
Well lets see:

930: Park opened early
10am: The line for the special pins was already 1 hour long.
11:30am Ceremony at the HUB
Richard Sherman played songs from Mary Poppins. AWESOME!!!! He told some neat stories about Walt.
Cynthia Harris MC'd as usual Her and John Hench did the presentation with a special appearence by none other than Mickey Mouse himself.
After the presentation of the plaque they sang "When you Wish Upon A Star" In the middle of the songs, all of Walt's Characters came out from the castle and joined in. Snow White, Alice, Mad Hatter... etc... Then they released I am guessing 100 white doves. It was beautiful. I think it was really neat ceremony.
I am glad as others that Eisner or Pressler did not show up, I think that would have ruined it.
There were A LOT of CM'S there that I recognized, and a lot of managers from the park.

I had to leave shortly after the ceremony, but I heard that they had some of Walt's favorite foods around the park such as grilled cheese sandwiches... etc

I am MAD that I missed Walt's opening day speech though. They played it over the loud speaker when the park opened.

I got my AP pins though. THe limit was 5 and by the time I got in line it was about 2 hours. So I went to the front of the line and found a nice CM who was in line and told them that I would give them one of my 5 pins if they let me in with them. IT WORKED. 15 min I was in and out.

Sorry for those of you who missed it I hope this helps a little.

Crazytigger
12-05-2001, 11:04 PM
Love the picture of your daughter in your avitar bell.

stinkerbell
12-05-2001, 11:22 PM
Oh, thank you, thank you for posting your description and the nice thing about my little stinkerbell. Some of our good friends are visiting DL this week and I'm sure to hear all about it from them, too on Saturday when they get home. My heart hurts. I would love one of the pins, too.:( Too bad we had to leave two days earlier, but I couldn't get any flights except on the third.....

Crazytigger
12-05-2001, 11:27 PM
bell, First your welcome, Second,let me see what I can do about the pin. I know a few people that got some pins. If I can get one I will send you a message.

stinkerbell
12-05-2001, 11:41 PM
Oh, my gosh. No pressure, but that would be so cool! Walt, the man, himself gives me goosebumps and his voice brings tears to my eyes. It would have been such an honor to be there today! My friends who are there had no idea it was his birthday or anything. Just good timing. And prob. no appreciation of the occasion. Although, now that they've seen the events and all they'll appreciate the man behind the Land.......I've been lurking at MP all day waiting to get some details! Now I can go to sleep!

FoodLover
12-06-2001, 01:31 PM
I was there yesterday and wrote up a short report on the festivities for Walt's birthday, for those who missed it:

http://www.mousesavers.com/decdltrip.html

Mary
MouseSavers.com

Ace
12-06-2001, 03:34 PM
so Eisner and Pressler weren't there? geez, they need to be replaced....

bluepearl
12-06-2001, 04:55 PM
Hey! I was there yesterday, though I couldn't get through enough to see Cynthia Harris and the others who were speaking.

Good to meet some of the Mouse Pad people though. :) Sorry we left early - my car broke down earlier in the day so we were on a tight schedule to get home.

Anyhoo, the film at DCA on Walt's life was really cool. I liked it a lot - almost moved me to tears, thinking about everything that went into the Disney company. Funny thing though - the movie started with an introduction (and was hosted) by Michael Eisner, at which point my friend and I were saying (in low voices): Boo! Hiss! All in all a good show, though. I didn't take well to the Robin Williams/Walter Cronkite bit (not that it wasn't good, I just wasn't interested in seeing it more than once), but I really like the Walt film.

Lost Boy
12-06-2001, 07:25 PM
Go to www.laughingplace.com they have the complete ceremony in 7 Real Video Files. I found this small, quiet ceremony to be much better than any overblown, bombastic crud that Florida has trotted out just to make more money. The story that Richard Sherman tells about Walt and "Feed The Birds" will have you crying. It is very emotional. And the whole thing, when viewed in sequence is wonderful. Wish I could have been there, but I will make it this weekend.

PhilMP
12-06-2001, 07:36 PM
Working Walt's b-day just made me more angry at the suits. Disneyland is the ONLY Disney theme park that Walt ever walked, and all we get is a rinky-dink 20 minute ceremony at the Partners statue, a little button, and free chili at all the CM restaurants. What does Florida get: a statue, parade, jets flying over the castle on October 1st, new nametags celebrating Walt's birthday, the list goes on and on. Florida even took stuff away from us to aid in the celebration. If there wasn't that much of a huff from CMs and Guests about this, D-land probably wouldn't even have the ceremony and the buttons and free food.

I know somebody from my department that asked Harriss about the lack of celebration while at one of our Cast parties, and in typical suit reaction she replied "Oh, I don't know, but somebody's looking into it." Translation: "Since WDW draws more tourists, therefore more money, we decided to screw the park that Walt built and give Anaheim the crappy leftovers."

Phil

Morrigoon
12-06-2001, 07:59 PM
You'll have to look higher than Cynthia for that - remember she's still at the D-land level. You wanna blame someone, look to Pressler or Eisner. East coast bias ruins another celebration.

FabShelly
12-06-2001, 08:28 PM
Originally posted by Squinky
so Eisner and Pressler weren't there? geez, they need to be replaced....

They were with Roy Disney at the ceremony in Florida.

Fab

Ace
12-06-2001, 08:48 PM
geez.....this settles it....it is all about money. The Disney board of Directors should replace everyone at manager level and above with people from these boards... I mean, come on! The true party should have been here, at Disneyland.... this place was his dream and his masterpiece.... I call Pressler's spot.... I'll go around the park and listen to everyone and there won't be peeling paint or scratched signs or CM's without appropriate costumes....

another thing.....Mousepad is so cool...not just the boards, (which are pretty cool) cut the people on them....Everyone here seriously rules. Thanks, you guys.

Nigel2
12-06-2001, 09:43 PM
This always makes me wonder when any corp head gets a (usually well deserved) bashing. Did they come in to the job with the attitude they have now or did pressure from (greed/people above/shareholders...) change them. For all we know (yeah right :) ) Pressler came in with the attitude to save money while keeping the same high quality product. Becuase if he wanted to ruin the company it would hurt him as well if they could put the blame on him.

blusilva
12-06-2001, 09:51 PM
My brother and I started the day by buying a brick for the esplanade with my name and the date on it. It was his Xmas present to me. Isn't that neat?

We were in the park in time to hear the opening day speech while on Main Street. It brought tears to my eyes.

Then we went and did The Walt Disney Story/Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln.

Then we went and camped out for the Hub ceremony, which seemed to be little more than a media event, sadly. I was suprised at how badly Cynthia Harris speaks in public. Either she didn't rehearse her speech or she's a really bad public speaker. I really enjoyed Richard Sherman and John Hench's bits, though.

My brother and I then trooped over to DCA (my very first visit) to see the new Walt movie at the Screening Room in the Animation Building. It made me cry again.

Then we went back over to Disneyland and met up with some friends, had some lunch, did Big Thunder, HM and Pirates and some Main Street Xmas shopping, then headed back to DCA, where I experienced "Superstar Lame-o" (oh my god, it's worse than I ever expected it to be), "Its A Bugs Life" (cute, but I hate being poked and sprayed), "Soarin' Over California" (so realisitic that I got vertigo and was nauseous) and "Luminaria" (sparklers and smoke).

I was sorry I missed the meets and the Walk In Walt's Footsteps tour, but all in all it was a Walterrific day!

Morrigoon
12-06-2001, 09:54 PM
Pressler is a retail man, he's really good at it (look at DTD). What he is not, as Al so frequently points out, is a showman.

You know how the Disney stores used to be really cool and now they totally bite? Guess what the turning point was: about the same time the parks started their rapid downhill slide. Yup, the time when Paul was moved from Disney stores to DL.

It would be to the benefit of both the stores and the parks (therefore the company as a whole) if Pressler was put back in charge of retail. Give him ESPN Zones and all the other non-park stuff if you want, that stuff's more retail anyway. That way they can "promote" him while still putting him where his talents are most needed. Heck, put product licensing under him too, if they wish. I don't care, as long as the Disney stores stop sucking and the parks get taken care of.

Not surprised Eisner was in Florida - east coast bias, remember?

Let's hope he stays away for DL's 50th and let's Cynthia be top brass there too.

Nigel2
12-06-2001, 10:05 PM
They probably though he could figure a way to use his retail experience for the job, and the suits are happy with the cost cuts but it is killing everyone else.

Morrigoon
12-06-2001, 10:09 PM
Actually, the merch got worse when he took over - every store in the place carries the same stuff. It's gotten a bit better, but for a couple years there there was literally NO variety. Back in the day, each store carried a drastically different selection, with characters in their proper lands, etc. and only a small selection of stuff was carried in all the shops.

I miss the Disney stores under his supervision - and Disneyland without it.

innerSpaceman
12-06-2001, 10:24 PM
It wasn't the lack of vast ceremonials that bugged me, rather it was the little insensitivities like having the Jungle Cruise down for rehab and the Mark Twain out of commission. How can you have a Waltcentric day with these two Original, opening day Disneyland attractions not running?

Yeah, the ceremony was pretty much a thrown-together afterthought, but really no ceremony was necessary after all. Disneyland itself is the real tribute. The entire Park is Walt's monument. The understated official ceremony was a mixed bag. Cynthia Harriss, as blusilva pointed out, was unbelievably bad. The guests on the other hand, were fine. The two Richard Sherman numbers and the mere continuing existence of John Hench were very cool. The dove-release finale was neat, but what was up with that shrieking rendition of 'When You Wish Upon a Star'?

The playback of Walt's Opening Day Dedication speech for Park opening was a nice touch. Also, those little birthday cakes were nifty (though they were sold out way too fast - only 500 made). Did anybody find any of the 'Walt' fave foods that were supposed to be worked into some menus? I looked in vain for a grilled cheese sandwich.

Low-key or not, it was a wonderful day at Disneyland. The moments of riotousness and general merriment at the MousePad Meet pretty much made up for the subdued nature of the official activities - it was Christmastime in the Magic Kingdom - and it was the 100th anniversary of the appearance of the man who thought all this up and then brought it into the world. Yes, a pretty cool day at Disneyland.

Not Afraid
12-06-2001, 10:53 PM
We had a very nice, low key Walt's day in the park.

We got there early (a real feat for us) and had breakfast at the Plaza Inn. Pooh, Eeyore, and Tigger were running around to all of the tables. They were great to watch and interact with while we ate our Mickey waffles and other stuff.

The Rededication of the Partners Statue ceremony took place at 11:30. It was pretty low key ceremony with a lot of Disney staff present - especially where were standing. We were some of the few "civilians." The speeches were generally dry and uninteresting with the exception of the wonderful stories and songs of Richard Sherman and the anecdotes of John Hench.

The teary moments came for me when Richard Sherman sang "There's a Great, Big, Beautiful Tomorrow" and when the doves were released during "When You Wish Upon a Star."

We rode the Columbia (1st time in YEARS!) then went to the MP meet. We had a short, but sweet birthday party that was a lot of fun. Thank you Innerspaceman for organizing and bringing the party favors!

We then went the 2 1/2 hour "A Walk in Walt's Footsteps" tour. Dean, our tour guide, was very knowledgeable and interesting. I would highly recommend it to any Disney aficionado. Thank you AVP for organizing the tour!

We spent the rest of the day doing simple things: the train, Mr. Lincoln, The Enchanted Tiki Room, and the film about Walt at DCA. We then watched the fireworks, checked in on "my" swans and closed the park.

Even though it was not an action-packed day, I fully enjoyed myself and remembered what great things Walt Disney left for the world to enjoy.

Crazytigger
12-07-2001, 12:16 AM
One neat thing I think was the number of CM'S there. I saw a lot that I recognized who were either not working and just there, or they were there early for work to see the ceremony.

Disney Crone/Kid
12-07-2001, 12:02 PM
I only wish work didn't get in the way of Disney fun, as I would have loved to have seen the old men (living legends) and done the Walk with AVP and the rest of you very fortunate mousepadders.

I am an exception, of this I am sure, but I'm glad that Disneyland held a low-key, no-fuss observation of Mr. Disney's birthday. I'm not one for frou-frou and over-blown lavish celebrations. Forget the hoopla. Forget the crowds.

Small and intimate is my cup of tea, and DH and I had our own heartfelt
intimate celebration, undistracted by the frenzy for "stuff." We passed
on the free pins for Annual Passholders and the limited edition buttons
or $6.99 with a free cake thrown in. Thanks, but no thanks.

We have the memories. Memories, beyond price. And yesterday, we
added to that growing stash of memories:
http://www.geocities.com/sptmbrmrn/120601.htm (more memories and pictures)

Thanks, lisap, for the Christmas carol quote...so true!