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View Full Version : Jump, Jive, & Boogie Swing Party?



tlovesdis
09-30-2005, 01:24 PM
Can anyone tell me where this takes place?

pisces
09-30-2005, 01:36 PM
Well, it's usually the Plaza Gardens Stage, but I don't know if it was always there or not.

Lots of fun. That was was one of the fun things they had going last NYE after midnight.

potzbie
09-30-2005, 02:53 PM
Every Saturday night, without fail, a real Big Band (swing music from the 1930s & 1940s) plays at the Plaza Gardens.

Saturday's swing music event is THE reason I upgrade my Annual Passport from one with Saturday blackout dates to an Annual Passport without Saturday blackout dates.

Live music is my favorite thing about Disneyland, including Golden Horseshoe, and Club Buzz, and DCA's Miner Forty-Niners (Barn Cats).
Add "The Dapper Dans."
Add "The Trashcan Trio".
Add "Drawn To Animation."

You asked, "Where?"
The Plaza Gardens are off "the hub", to your left (i.e., between the entrance to Frontierland and Sleeping Beauty castle).

Also:
There is a walkway (a secret passage!) between the Plaza and Rancho del Zocalo restaurant.
When Zocalo is open, I buy a chicken combo or shrimp combo, take by platter outside, go thru the "tunnel", and eat outside of the Plaza Gardens, and listen to swing music as I eat.

Watch out for the jitterbugs! -- Watching the dancing of the college-age visitors doing the "Lindy Hop" and the "West Coast Swing" is half the fun.
You haven't heard "Sing, Sing, Sing" (Louis Prima) until you've heard a Big Band play that tune with the dancers huddled in a circle for the showcase dance-off!
That is quite a show!
And not planned by any Disney management think-tank!

That is my very favorite way of spending a Saturday night!
:) :) :) :)

disneyperson
09-30-2005, 05:02 PM
We always spend our Saturday nights in Dl watching listening to the Big bands and watching the dancing. We've gone often enough now to recognise the regular dancers. One of these times I going to get up the nerve to get out there myself.

pisces
09-30-2005, 05:09 PM
We always spend our Saturday nights in Dl watching listening to the Big bands and watching the dancing. We've gone often enough now to recognise the regular dancers. One of these times I going to get up the nerve to get out there myself.

That's really what's making me reconsider NYE this year. I was going to leave that day, but I figured, what with NYE being on a Saturday.......they might have an even more extensive Boogie/Swing and live big bands.... and it's so much fun to sit perched the whole evening (you need to find a spot early, though)....and just take it all in!

WITron
09-30-2005, 09:14 PM
When we were there for New Year's Eve 1999/2000 They had the swing party at Fantasyland Theatre. My wife and I took some dance leasons for our wedding earlier in the year and had a blast dancing there.

RStar
10-02-2005, 09:17 PM
I've always wanted to go see this. What time do they swing?

potzbie
10-02-2005, 10:23 PM
I've always wanted to go see this. What time do they swing?

I just now clicked on the CALENDAR for SAT. OCT. 8th.
They start at 7:00 p.m.
Last set is 10:15 p.m.

The college-age dancers show up for the second set, not the first set.
I don't know why.
The crowd does build throughout the evening, and getting a decent seat will be a challenge if you wait for later shows.

Go to DISNEYLAND.COM, click CALENDAR, click a Saturday date, and you will see the scheduled entertainment for the stages, like for Plaza Gardens and for Club Buzz.
It will include the swing bands.
Yesterday, it was Doc Anello.
Next Saturday, it is Swingtown.

I've seen Red and the Red Hots; Stompy Jones; Pete Jacobs and the Wartime Radio Review; Jumpin' Joz Band.
Years ago, I remember the first time I saw WOODY HERMAN AND HIS SWING HERD, on that stage.
Wow!

If I remember, Swingtown is the Big Band who has their bass player as one of the Miner-Forty-Niners.
("Dave", or "Grizzley Dave" as he is called in the Miner-49ers. If my memory is off, I am sure one of the regulars will correct me.)

ralfrick
10-03-2005, 09:28 AM
There are a couple of photos on my site linked below.

http://home.comcast.net/~ralfrickdl2003/index.htm

Cheers.

RStar
10-03-2005, 11:17 AM
Thanks!

But I would want to see the people who dress up and go crazy on the dance floor. So I guess that means getting a seat at 8:00 and waiting untill 10:15, huh?

potzbie
10-03-2005, 03:34 PM
But I would want to see the people who dress up and go crazy on the dance floor. So I guess that means getting a seat at 8:00 and waiting untill 10:15, huh?

No, not that late.
According to the Disneyland Calendar for October 8th, the showtimes are:
7 p.m.
8 p.m.
9 p.m.
10:15 p.m.

The seven o'clock set is always lightly attended, since no walk-ins are aware of the show except for the regulars.
(There is no announcement of anything until right before the band begins, and he announcement is only audible in the stage area. The stage is not visible from the hub, so it is not a visual attraction nor an audible attraction, until the band begins its set).
So, seating is easy to secure.

The college kids like to show up for the 8:00 and 9:00 sets.
It is rare that those certain couples dress up in ZOOT SUITS and 1940s skirts and blouses.
Sometimes, instead of a zoot suit (with a reet pleat!) a couple will dress in military (Navy) uniforms, just like the LIFE magazine photograph.
But they don't dress up often.
But I have seen them.
I don't know what motivates them to dress up one Saturday and dress casual the other Saturdays.

Watch for one older couple.
I can only remember the name of the gentleman, because sometimes he wears a jacket with his name (nickname?) on it. -- "Dubbie."
They like to put on a bit of a show when they dance.
I won't spoil the effect, but let's just say that they are not shy.

If the chairs run out, the seating is on the flat rock edge of the planters.
Cold, but good enough.
The end of each set sees enough people leave for the next set of guests to find a seat.
Only the loyal few keep their seat for consecutive sets.
Only the loyalest stay for every set.
(Some people come to Disneyland for things other than 1940s Big Band jazz. -- Isn't that bizzare? [joke]).

The fireworks show clears out many, since the lines-of-sight from the Plaza Gardens is poor, due to trees blocking the key areas of the sky.
You are close enough to see the guy wires of Tinkerbell, and, if no tree blocks your vision of the Matterhorn, a good view of the "skull and crossbones" when the POTC segment of the show occurs during the fireworks.
But Plaza Gardens is not recommended for viewing the fireworks. -- You will only see half of the effects.
Thus the seating will be open again.

RStar
10-03-2005, 04:13 PM
Cool, Thanks!