Disneyland: 2010

Disneyland has changed a lot since this time last year! Disneyland saw many refurbishments to rides that surely needed them while it quietly celebrated its 55 Anniversary. The park looks better than ever! Disney's California Adevnture saw a huge increase in the amount of construction work, with the debut of World of Color, the retheme of several attractions, and groundbreaking for The Little Mermaid and Carsland. Please note that some of these are my own pictures, while some belong to dlfreak over at MouseInfo.com. He always has the best pictures, so I encourage you to check them out!
We have a lot to look back on, so let's go!

Disneyland

Star Tours closed earlier this year in preparation for Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, which opens May 2011.

Remember Honey I Shrunk the Audience? Well, that aging ride was put out to pasture for good to make way for Captian EO: Tribute.


The Disney Gallery, which had been MIA since The Dream Suite was created, was finally brought back to a really nice location in the Main Street Bank. The Disney Gallery is now connected to Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, which opened last year.


And let's not forget the 4 month long refurbishment for the Rivers of America. All the boats and Fantasmic! went down while new additions were made to the Rivers. New effects were also seen in Fantasmic!





Disney's California Adventure
I thought there were a lot of walls at DCA in the beginning of the year! But now, there are many, many more! One thing that has slipped many people's minds (including mine!) are the new additions to Grizzly River Run. Slowly, the white water raft ride is being transformed into a 50's era National Park. Unfortunately, I have no pictures. But rest assured, by the time Golden State is ready to be tackled in Phase 2, all of the extreme sports references to the mountain will be gone.

Through various stages, the Red Car tracks in Hollywood Pictures Backlot were completed. The land was also announced to become Hollywoodland in the future. To combat the closure of the main entrance, temporary one was built between a bug's land and Tower of Terror. This became permanent in August.



The former ampitheater was demolished and made way for a beautiful viewing terrace dubbed Paradise Park.

The Little Mermaid construction has also increased. The ride opens May 2011.

Silly Symphony Swings also opened this year, surprising many people with its rich details and beautiful surroundings.

Across the way, Burger Invasion and Pizza Oom Mow Mow closed to become Paradise Gardens eaterie..

Maliboomer finally disappeared, which shocked many fans because it happened so quickly. Still, it is nice to see it gone! A park is supposed to open in its place, featuring a meet and greet.


Mulholland Madness also closed, to be turned into Goofy's Sky School next year.

Carsland rockwork has dominated the DCA skyline, with topping off occuring in October. The Bountiful Valley Farm closed to make way for more Carsland space.



To add to World of Color, Glow Fest was a popular, albeit tacky, Dance Party. ElecTRONica premiered in the fall, which was much nicer and even more popular

Meanwhile, the big event this year at DCA was its new nighttime show. World of Color premiered to the park guests in June. It has been well recieved, and later, Troncore was added after the show, which has been recieved well, too.

In the front of the Park, walls have gone up around sunshine plaza. It will be a mess next year as stores close and walls fill the land. The new turnstiles should be open by August, though the letters are slated to be removed in January. But come may, there will be

a lot less walls throughout the park!

Disneyland Hotel
The Disneyland Hotel is finally getting a decent theme to a retro Disneyland. The towers are being transformed, and the rooms are beautiful. The pool area is also seeing a major makeover. The entire thing will be finished by 2012. Perhaps then something will be done about Paradise Pier?




It's been a fun and exciting year at Disneyland Resort. Things will be even better next year, with new rides and the fastly approaching opening of Carsland. Stay tuned!

Disneyland: One Man's Dream- The Future that Never Was

No that I get into things that were closer towards the present. I know it was around this time I made the first pilgrimage to Disneyland when I was little. I even remember these changes happening.

Like in Tomorrowland. We've already established it's been a constant headache to the Disney Co. A few years the planned retheme of Tomorrowland to Tomorrowland 2055 fell through due to budgets, another idea was quickly concieved.

Things started moving very quickly for the retheme. Tomorrowland began to get a new color scheme, filled with rich bronze and gold colors along with some emerald and black hues. Most noticable was the change in color in Space Mountain from white to... well...this.

It was really based on Jules Verne's style of futurism, and was referred to as "The Future that Never Was". It's focus revolved around the fantasy of the future, and was not set to a specific date in time. The land also contained edible vegitation, symbolising that all landscaping in the future was going to be edible.

In 1995, the PeopleMover took it's last lap around the track above Tomorrowland. A little time would pass before a new attraction was to be put up there. Rocket Rods was a high speed ride that took people over the same track the PeopleMover went over and went through the same rides. The ill-fated ride travled very fast, then slow down to make tight turns that were hard to make due to the lack of banked turns. This caused many problems with the ride, especially it's control computer, causing many breakdowns. The fact that it traveled the 16 minute PeopleMover track in 3 minutes also were not good for the track. Rocket Rods was supposed to go down for a refurb, but never opened again. Since then the track as become cracked and overgrown, but repaintings restored fate that a new ride- either the PeopleMover or something else- would emerge. Those rumors still circulate today.


Then, in 1996, the Carousel Theater walls were torn down to make way for the new attraction, Innoventions. This attraction ties in with the idea of brining cutting edge technology to Tomorrowland showcasing the newest technologies in entertainment, living, and health.

Mission to Mars was replaced by Red Rockett's Pizza Port, a new restaurant. Outside, a new water fountain play area was built around a moving ball called Cosmic Waters. It was pretty cool and ingenious.

Rocket Jets were also replaced by Astro Orbitor. It was the same ride concept- you rode a rocketship around in the air. However, Astro Orbitor was moved down from the station above the late PeopleMover track to in front of the tracks at the enterance of Tomorrowland. The old Rocket Jets were remodeled into a new show piece called the Observatron, which would come alive in motion and music ever 15 minutes.

Captain EO was replaced with Honey I Shrunk the Audience, a 3D show that played and continued to play in Epcot.

Finally, Autopia was closed in 1998- both Fantasyland and Tomorrowland Autopia shut down to combine into 1 large Autopia. Why were ther more then 1? Well, for years there were different versions- some made for adults, some for kids, others for family. In this case, Fantasyland Autopia was a back-up in case the Tomorrowland Autopia was too crowded. In 2000, the ride reopened with 3 different types of cars, all futuristic looking.

This was the last complete overhall Tomorrowland has recieved to date. But slowly over time, the color scheme and theme of the area would begin to recede- and the classic white/blue/red colors would start to return.

Disneyland: One Man's Dream- Fantasyland Extreme Makeover

When Walt originally pictured Fantasyland, he wanted it to resemble a European Village. It was the setting for most of his movies, so it made sense. However, due to budget restraints, this could not be fulfilled, and the idea was replaced with a medieval fair ground theme.

In the 80s, the idea of the European Village theme resurfaced, and from 1982-1983, Fantasyland underwent an extensive makeover. All the classic dark rides would now be housed in elegant Bavarian buildings. Dumbo the Elephant, The Mad Teaparty, and King Arhtur's Carousel were relocated. Also, Cpatain Hook's Galley was closed and removed for good due to deteriorating and wood rot.





For years, Disney wanted to replace the Fantasyland Theater with a dark ride, most notably Pincchio, and that idea was finally made into reality with the Fantasyland retheme.

Fantasyland was rededicated, and for the second time, the drawbridge was lowered. It's great that Walt's dream was finally realized, and is a suiting tribute to the man who did so many great things.