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deadman
05-06-2005, 11:24 PM
I went to Disneyland on May 5th. Other than the fact there was a bunch of people there....no different than any other day. Where was the block party??? Where was anything.

You would think that after waiting 50 years disneyland could at least have given out free pins, hats, tee shirts, ...maybe have a live band outside the gates....maybe free annual passes to the first 50 folks....or maybe last 50 folks...

This has to be the cheapest and I mean cheapest celebration. At other anniversaries......the company spends bucks on the folks coming to see.....instead they raked in the bucks from people showing up.

At Disneyland....space mountain still closed, the old submarine ride not change yet.....any changes to the castle and other areas occur months ago.
According to my kids, the new buzz ride sucks..

There was more of party atmosphere when the angels won the world series....

All hype no action......Disneyland should be ashame.

AaronInCal
05-06-2005, 11:30 PM
May 5 was not the actual 50th Birthday of Disneyland. It was just the day they picked to officially start their 18 month-long celebration of the 50th Anniversary. July 17 will be the actual 50th Birthday. Rumors going around say they may at least give everyone gold Mickey ears and a piece of cake or cupcakes that day, along with another ceremony.. But no one knows yet what they really will be doing that day.

DisneyDustin22
05-06-2005, 11:43 PM
At Disneyland....space mountain still closed, the old submarine ride not change yet.....

All hype no action......Disneyland should be ashame.


umm, I don't know about anyone else, but I didn't expect the subs to be completed overnight, same with SM. I think the fact that SO SO SO much was done to the park in the last year to make it look the way it did for the kickoff yesterday, I applaud Disneyland for that effort.

"sigh"...some people just can never be satisfied.

Larilyn
05-07-2005, 12:55 AM
The new Buzz ride is awesome.

The new fireworks (which were part of the May 5th celebration) are awesome.

The Block Party is in California Adventure.

Space Mountain will be open for the actual anniversary.

They spent a LOT of those bucks that they raked in to get things looking good again for the 50th.

I was there today, the day after the kick off, and it was not an ordinary day at Disneyland to me.

TP2000
05-07-2005, 01:45 AM
Welcome to the MP boards "deadman". Disneyland didn't do anything special for the 50th Anniversary on May 5th because May 5th is not the anniversary of anything related to Disneyland.

Disneyland's 50th Anniversary is July 17th, 2005. That's about 10 weeks from now. Complaining that Disneyland didn't do enough to celebrate the 50th on May 5th would be like complaining that President Ford didn't do enough to celebrate America's Bicentennial on April 25th, 1976. The Bicentennial was July 4th, 1976, so President Ford shouldn't have done much other than maybe mention how excited he was to celebrate with the rest of America in 10 weeks.

Of course on May 5th they did premiere two fun new parades, amazing new fireworks, a wonderful new Disneyland history exhibit and film on Main Street USA, and they had a bajillion celebrities and media events for all of the new gold vehicles, celeb party, etc., etc., etc.

But the 50th Anniversary of Disneyland does not happen for 10 more weeks.

Wesley815
05-07-2005, 08:03 AM
According to my kids, the new buzz ride sucks..Odd then how most kids will beg their parents to get back in line or ask to ride again as soon as it's over. To each his own I guess.

I doubt anything Disney does would make you happy though.

deadman
05-07-2005, 12:33 PM
May 5th....as advertised as a "BLOCK PARTY EVENT"....where was it
Look at the Billboards....Celebrate 50th anniversary on May 5th. where was it
Tv stations were covering the event big time....covering what....its just another day at disneyland

Disneyland closed down on May 4th for special elite to visit before the big May 5th date.....but the party was more on the 4th for them.

July is the real month??? oh...thats a nice idea have two 50th birthday parties...Where is the big July postings....they have been posting May 5th for almost six months...please.

A lot of hype to draw a big crowd to boost revenues.

Buzz lightyear....open weeks before.
Castle....painted months ago.
New Parade...yeah its nice...but so all the other parades they have...nothing fantastic.
New Fireworks show.........so what?

If you going to promote a big event on May 5th, then spend some money on it just for that particular day. Maybe have a unique event for the tons of people that came on that day you promoted.

Otherwise....dont promote the day.

When my kids tell me what is so special this day versus other days at Disneyland.....I know they missed the mark.

I seen more money spent at the grand opening of a Walmart than at disneyland...pretty sad.

If I was in charge of Disneyland, I be giving out tons of free stuff.....free food...drinks....dvd ect.......

By the way...i luv disneyland....its just I dont like it when they put up those big cones with the large tv screens promoting a Big Block party....I was there.....wheres the party???? wheres the confetti, streamers, Jumbo balloons like at a Macy's parade....something....anything....anything

bradk
05-07-2005, 12:38 PM
er.. block party is the new parade at DCA featuring pixar characters.

Larilyn
05-07-2005, 12:40 PM
I already told you once where the Block Party that was advertised was located. It's the Block Party bash in California Adventure.

As for things being completed before the May 5th date, of course they were! It's so everything would be nice for the 5th. If they hadn't started painting the castle until May 4th, it wouldn't have been ready. It took them months.

And as for the new fireworks show, if you are saying "so what", then you haven't seen it. It is amazing.

I would gladly have switched places with you, because they did a lot to make you happy, but just because they didn't give you something FREE, nothing was good enough.

LibertyCall
05-07-2005, 01:47 PM
Thank goodness one can always find a good Walmart grand opening!

DefyingGravity
05-07-2005, 01:57 PM
First of all, I agree that the new firework show is anything but "so what."
Second, although the castle was painted before, the crowns and decorations were all added the night before, so that was new.
Third, there was a huge event that kicked off the celebration in front of the castle- with LeAnn Rimes, Julie Andrews, Eisner, Art Linkletter, Christina Aguilara, and Matt Ouimet. If seeing these people is "just like any other day" and "not special", then boy do I want to go to Disneyland with you!
Fourth, the Golden Vehicles and 50th exhibits were first seen on the 5th, and the 50 hidden 50's, Golden lamposts with Tink, the Happiest Faces on Earth, and new Mickey Floral were only visable for between a couple days to weeks before May 5th.
Lastly, nowhere does it say, "Come on May 5th for the most amazing one-day celebration ever." May 5th is NOT marketed as a Block Party- the new Parde in DCA is! May 5th is marketed as the START of the 50th. That's why all the ads and promos say "Coming 5-05-05" They do not say "celebrate the 50th on May 5" as you claim- they just give May 5th as the starting date. (As far as I have seen)

I think you need to take a closer look at everything that is new at the park, including the details for which DL is famous. I can't believe that getting a free hat would have made the day special when being one of the first to see all the new stuff, not to mention seeing Julie Andrews and others, wouldn't.

Courtney Anne
05-07-2005, 04:06 PM
your kids didn't like the BUZZ ride ? how old are they ? my son is almost 10 and he loved it - we were there the weekend after it opened - we went on it a few times each day and we were there three days

the only thing he didn't care about was the picture you could email at the end - we did it the first two times and then he didn't care to wait in line to email it

hlbtimes2
05-07-2005, 04:22 PM
I can see both sides of this debate. Yes, there are some great new things in the park- even if Deadman and his family couldnt find and enjoy them. But there have been other anniversarys at the park that included giveaways and such for guests. For the 30th they were giving away new cars. Maybe instead of having people wait in line all day for that pin that everyone was trying to get, they could have given them away at the enterance gate. Those people would have been able to enjoy the day, rather then standing in line, and there would have been a great freebie for people that were brave enough to go that day.

DefyingGravity
05-07-2005, 04:43 PM
I agree that would have been nice, but May 5th is NOT the anniversary! As it has been said, July 17th is the anniversary, and it appears som esort of giveaway may be planned.

sunfun94
05-07-2005, 04:51 PM
your kids didn't like the BUZZ ride ? how old are they ? my son is almost 10 and he loved it -


My daughter is 3 and LOVES "Buzz!!"... her favorite part is to steer! :)

Wendi
05-07-2005, 05:17 PM
I agree, I expected there to be more of a fanfare. I really expected giveaways, I don't care that the true anniversary date hasn't arrived yet, they chose to have the celebration start May 5th, and I think they should've done a bit more... don't get me wrong, I LOVED the fireworks show... amazing. I still expected more from Disney, there was more at the 30th/35th anniversary and I think the 50th should be BIGGER!!!

I was pleased with everything, but really would've liked a chance to win something, or a free bauble for the day... even if it was just a fake commemorative ticket or something.

sriggins
05-07-2005, 05:31 PM
I still expected more from Disney, there was more at the 30th/35th anniversary and I think the 50th should be BIGGER!!!


July 17th should be interesting, considering it is a Sunday and even MORE people can get there early. Talk about a zoo :) Which I'll be at!

I dig the new buzz ride - Once you learn to ignore the scores (which you can't compare with because if someone is stopped for 5 mins with a vantage to a super good target, they can sit there and rack up the mega points hehe) Maybe they will turn off scoring when the ride is stalled.

I was kind of shocked they didn't want $5 to email your scores pic :)

I'd die to have Inner Space back however. That attraction ruled.

pirateabbie
05-07-2005, 05:39 PM
I was kind of shocked they didn't want $5 to email your scores pic :)

Shhhh..... don't give them any ideas. :)

gn2dlnd
05-07-2005, 05:58 PM
What a delightful fellow. I can't praise Disneyland (and, in particular, Matt Ouimet) enough for the wonderful job they've done in bringing the Park back from the doldrums. As crowded as the 5th was, I heard nary a complaint. The only issue was with the sick-out in the foods dept., and people dealt with it. Gave it that authentic flavor of Black Sunday. ;)
Good try, deadman, with the fishing trip and all, but, if your post is real, I think you got the trip to Disneyland that you were hoping for.

Disney Vault
05-07-2005, 06:05 PM
I wish CM Matt would have talked during the 50th event. I bet the crowd would have just gone nuts.

katya
05-07-2005, 06:43 PM
I was pleased with everything, but really would've liked a chance to win something, or a free bauble for the day... even if it was just a fake commemorative ticket or something.


I did wind up enjoying myself overall on the 5th, but it took me awhile to get into a "Disney Mood". Being crammed into Main Street with all the skillions of people for the ceremony (which none of us hoi-polloi could see) was really quite unpleasant. I actually got lucky and positioned myself into Multimedia Gulch and had a partial view of a video screen and a corner of the actual curtain on the castle, but I think it made me even crabbier to be watching the Beautiful People get to watch the ceremony. I really felt like a third-class citizen.

After being shut out of the park on the 4th, it was pretty lame to essentially be shut out again on the 5th. Okay, so the celebrities and media got to enjoy the park. What about the rest of us? Don't we count, too? A commemorative ticket or some small bit of ephemera would have been a nice, simple gesture of thanks to all of us who came to share this special day. It wouldn't have cost much, it would have been easy to distribute, and would have made at least me feel like I was welcome that morning.

There's no way in heck I'll be there for the real anniversary on July 17th, since that won't be for us "Guests" either.

(But not to be a total Negative Nellie - I thought the CMs handled the day beautifully, and I left a glowing compliment card at City Hall.)

hlbtimes2
05-07-2005, 08:45 PM
I agree that would have been nice, but May 5th is NOT the anniversary! As it has been said, July 17th is the anniversary, and it appears som esort of giveaway may be planned.

The give aways weren't just on one day for the past celebrations. I know that I was there the end of Aug. for the 30th. They were still giving away cars at that time. They can't expect to just have one special day, the park only holds so many people at one time!

bradk
05-07-2005, 08:51 PM
although if you read the 'mouse tales' take on the car giveaways, you'll see why they might be hesitant to do it again. in one case, they were using a formula where the cars went to every x'th guest and someone had figured it out and started cluing in his friends on when to enter the park to win the cars. in another case, they literally couldn't give the cars away.

deadman
05-07-2005, 10:20 PM
Biggest Event in Disney Theme Park History Premieres on May 5, 2005

ANAHEIM, Calif. (May 5, 2004) -- For the first time ever, the 10 Disney theme parks around the world will join together for a global celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of Disneyland in Southern California.

oh....sorry about previous posts....I guess the biggest event in disney theme park history is just not big enough for them to give out free stuff....

Oh, at the anaheim world series party...they gave out tons of stuff....now that was a party.

:(

MommyTo3Boys1Girl
05-07-2005, 10:33 PM
I agree, I expected there to be more of a fanfare. I really expected giveaways, I don't care that the true anniversary date hasn't arrived yet, they chose to have the celebration start May 5th, and I think they should've done a bit more... don't get me wrong, I LOVED the fireworks show... amazing. I still expected more from Disney, there was more at the 30th/35th anniversary and I think the 50th should be BIGGER!!!

I was pleased with everything, but really would've liked a chance to win something, or a free bauble for the day... even if it was just a fake commemorative ticket or something.

I agree with Wendi.

I also feel like the whole "presentation" in front of the castle in the am was lame. We couldn't move on Main Street and had NO CLUE what was going on at the castle. All we could do was hear Eisner talk. That was a treat, sarcastic. The tv monitors should have been up, what is the point of having them right in front of the people who are right in front of the castle? Who's brillant idea was that?

I was pleased with the way the park looks, I think it looks gorgeous and I know that doing those refurbs took a lot of time and money. I thought Remember was simply breathtaking. The parade was beautiful, just a bit short and the block party bash is great.

I just wish they wouldn't have ran out of antenna balls!!! :mad: