|
|
Hello again everyone,
For the past couple of weeks here at Shandy’s Corner, I’ve been taking you with me around Disney California Adventure so that you could experience what it was like to be at the premiere of World of Color; we’ve had the chance to explore the park and see the premiere of World of Color and the grand opening of Silly Symphony Swings, so we’ve had a chance to see what the park has to offer right now. Now, how’d you like to see a little of what’s coming?
About once a year or so, the Disneyland Resort hosts a presentation called “What’s Next”, where they bring in folks from Walt Disney Imagineering and other parts of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts to tell the media about some of the things that guests will have to look forward to in the year (or two) ahead. On Friday, June 11, as the guests at Disney California Adventure were scrambling to get Fastpasses for that evening’s first public showings of World of Color, the journalists who attended the premiere got a chance to hear about what those guests would be seeing in the years to come!
 Photo by Gary Marlis The event was held at the old “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire – Play It!” stage; instead of the Hot Seat, we found a stage with a large backdrop made to look like a sketchbook, with drawings of some of the attractions coming to the Resort.
We were introduced to our host for the presentation, Russ Marchand. He started off the presentation by telling us that the slate of recent Disney sequels, such as Toy Story 3 and Iron Man 2, had inspired him to come up with to some of his own proposals for future Disney sequels. Thus, we were treated to posters for such films such as High School Musical 72: Rockin’ The Rest Home, 20,001 Leagues Under The Sea andGreat-Grandson of Flubber starring Zac Efron! Fortunately, we were assured that these films wouldn’t be coming soon to a theater near you, and with that, we started talking about what we would be seeing at Disneyland and DCA.
The first person on stage was Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Tom Staggs, who gave us an overview of some of the fun things that had been recently introduced, such as World of Color and the shows and events associated with Summer Nightastic. Tom brought along a brief video reel of some of the great reviews that World of Color has already received from both the media and the public.
After Tom left the stage, we left the Resort and went to sea! Well, not literally, of course; Rachel Quinn, Executive Cruise Director from Disney Cruise Line, joined us at the presentation to talk about some of the fun options folks will have for Disney cruising for this year and next year.
Rachel took us to Germany to see a brief update on the construction of the Disney Dream…
and brought us back to the West Coast so we could see some of the exciting destinations available for us out here, such as 7-night cruises to Mexico in the spring and fall of 2011 and cruises to Alaska in the summer of 2011. In the hope of encouraging families to take a few of those trips, Rachel announced that Disney Cruise Line will be letting kids under 17 sharing a cabin with two adults to cruise free on the Mexico cruises from January through March of next year.
Returning to dry land, we got to see a preview of the “re-imagining” of the Disneyland Hotel, including a look at a re-designed hotel pool that will feature a reproduction of the original Disneyland marquee…
… and then we got to meet executive producer and vice-president Kathy Mangum from Walt Disney Imagineering. Kathy had come to the show to tell us more about the big addition to DCA that will be opening just two years from now – Cars Land.
The 12-acre expansion to the park, which will be located in the former Bountiful Valley Farm area as well as in the former parking lot behind Pacific Wharf, will contain 3 new attractions, shops, and dining locations. The whole thing’s going to be laid out the same as the town of Radiator Springs from the movie, and the area’s going to be “richly detailed” so that you’ll be able to walk through and explore the town.
You’ll be able to visit the stores of residents like Fillmore and Sarge, drop by the Cozy Cone Inn to get snacks like “cone on the cob” and “chili cone carne” (You can’t make stuff like this up, folks), or stop by Flo’s Diner to get food inspired by the great “road food” found on Route 66.
Enough about food, though – what will there be to do? According to Kathy, Luigi’s Casa Della Tires will host an attraction called Luigi’s Flying Tires, where Luigi and Guido will have you flying around on giant tires – kinda like you’d be doing if you rode on a puck in a giant air hockey game – as you fly through Luigi’s tire yard.
At the entrance to Cars Land will be Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree, where you’ll be riding in a trailer pulled by a baby tractor…
 Photo By Gary Marlis … who will be dancing around Mater’s junkyard, as Mater calls a square dance; as the baby tractors change direction, you’ll be whipped around left and right.
The big attraction at Cars Land, which you will enter through the courthouse at the very end of town , will be Radiator Springs Racers. In this attraction, you’ll board and ride a vehicle that isn’t a character from the film but looks like it belongs in the world of Cars, and you’ll get a chance to meet all of your favorite characters from the movie. We’ll almost get run into by Mack the truck, then get pulled over by the sheriff, who’s so impressed by our driving in avoiding Mack that he invites us to be part of a big race. The sheriff has Mater take us into town, and after an attempt at tractor tipping (and a meeting with Frank), we’ll go into town for a freshening up, after which we’ll race side-by-side with another car full of guests. And who’ll be the winner of the race? Well, that’s going to depend on when you ride!
Kathy showed us both concept art of what was to come and a few sneak peeks at what was actually going on at the site, including giving us a look at the construction of the rock work that will make up Ornament Valley and a peek at one of the ride vehicles being tested on one of the completed sections of track.
We even had a surprise cameo appearance from Lightning McQueen, which was really fun. Now that I’ve had a chance to see what’s coming, I can hardly wait for the grand opening in 2012!
From the land of Cars, we were next taken to a galaxy far, far away, as Kathy Rogers, Walt Disney Imagineering senior show producer, came by to tell us about the new version of Star Tours.
 Photo by Gary Marlis Kathy gave us a hint at what we could expect when we re-board the Starspeeders next year, including a brand-new storyline set in the period between Revenge of the Sith (Episode III) and A New Hope (Episode IV- the original Star Wars), new film technology (in other words, a 3D film), and visits to numerous places, including the desert planet Tatooine and the city-planet of Coruscant. For those of you looking to book your final flights to Endor, Kathy had that information for us, too – the last flights of the original Star Tours will depart on July 26th at Disneyland and on September 7th at Walt Disney World.
Apparently, Kathy may have given us one or two hints too many, because right after her announcement of the final tour dates, the venue was invaded by Stormtroopers with orders to arrest Kathy for divulging Imperial secrets. (And you thought Disney was secretive!) Fortunately Russ, doing an impressive Darth Vader imitation, was able to save the day.
 Photo by Gary Marlis The final presenter for the show was Lisa Girolami, director and senior show producer from Walt Disney Imagineering, who had come to share some information about the next big attraction that will be coming to Disney California Adventure – The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure.
Lisa told us about how in 2011, she and her fellow Imagineers would be taking us “under the sea” in the area that was formally occupied by Golden Dreams to meet Ariel and all of her friends from the movie. To tell us all about what we’d be seeing, she turned things over to one of Ariel’s co-stars, Scuttle, who’ll be introducing us to Ariel’s story when the ride opens.
Unfortunately, Scuttle’s as good as telling stories as he is at identifying human objects, so Lisa helped Scuttle by filling in some details. When the attraction opens, we’ll be boarding our very own “clamshells”, which will take us under water by the use of visual and environmental effects. We’ll be experiencing very detailed environments and very sophisticated Audio-Animatronics as we travel to see Sebastian’s “hot crustacean band”, Ursula’s lair, and other scenes from the film. It’ll all be happening next year, so get your masks and flippers ready!
Speaking of mermaids, it turned out that Disney had one more little surprise for us at the presentation. Although we’ll have to wait until 2011 to see Ariel, we got the chance to see the lady who gives Ariel her voice, Jodi Benson, at the presentation; Jodi and a group of singers, dancers, and puppeteers took to the stage and performed Part of Your World and Under the Sea from the film. Jodi and her singing were absolutely lovely, and the performance was a great way to end the presentation and the event!
 
I hope everyone’s had as much fun joining me for the World of Color premiere as I’ve had bringing it to you! But just in case you haven’t quite had your fill of seeing next at Disney California Adventure, how’d you like to join me in the Blue Sky Cellar to see a little more of what’ll be coming soon?
Great! I’ll meet you there next time!
-Paul Schnebelen
Hello everyone!
Last time here at Shandy’s Corner, we attended the world premiere of World of Color at Disney California Adventure. However, World of Color wasn’t the only attraction to premiere at DCA on June 11th; while almost all of the attention was focused on the premiere of the new show in Paradise Bay, another attraction also had its premiere, although the opening wasn’t as big a production as the World of Color premiere.
For you folks that haven’t been to California Adventure or haven’t been there for a while, Silly Symphony Swings originally opened in 2001 as the Orange Stinger, a “swinger” attraction that was encased in a giant orange peel and featured the sound of buzzing bees. The attraction was fun, but hardly a must-see, and now that Paradise Pier, is being substantially altered to fit the new theme of California as Walt might have experienced it, it didn’t really fit in with its surroundings. Hence, several months ago, the Orange Stinger was closed, it lost its peeling orange, and it recently reopened re-themed to pay tribute to the Mickey Mouse cartoon “The Band Concert”.
Early in the morning of June 11th, the Disneyland Resort held a opening ceremony for the Swings. The ceremony was what’s known as a “cast member moment”, which means that Disneyland cast members were the only folks that were allowed to attend the ceremony (aside from a few intrepid media folks like yours truly).
As we approach the Silly Symphony Swings this misty Friday morning, we see a sandwich board advertising a band concert…
…as well as a stage with some band instruments and a banner announcing the grand opening.
 
A crowd of several dozen cast members gathered in front of the stage, and just before the ceremony, some flat-panel TVs nearby showed the Mickey Mouse cartoon that inspired the ride. (Oddly enough, in spite of the name of the attraction, “The Band Concert” isn’t actually a “Silly Symphony” cartoon! I guess someone just decided the name sounded better.)
For such a low-key ceremony, the Silly Symphony Swings grand opening had a serious number of Disney executives! Making dedication speeches at the event were Walt Disney Parks and Resorts chairman Tom Staggs…
…Disneyland Resort president George Kaligridis…
…Walt Disney Imagineering executive vice president Bob Weis, who’s in charge of the transformation of Disney California Adventure…
…and the person in charge of DCA, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts vice president Mary Niven. (Mary probably wouldn’t be too pleased to hear me call the park “DCA” — she’s been doing her best to get people to refer to the park by its full name, not its initials. )
As you can see, besides cast members and executives the ceremony was also weel attended by “Disney Livestock”! Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow, dressed in their band concert best, came out for the ceremony.
Last but not least, Mickey himself, dressed in his “Band Concert” uniform, also came out to take part in the ceremony, accompanied by the Disneyland Band. (You’re going to have to trust me on Mickey and the band, folks. Try as I might, I couldn’t get a good picture of Mickey from behind all the cast members! )
With Mickey as conductor, the Disneyland Band played “The Storm” and the “William Tell Overture” as the Silly Symphony Swings came to life; the cast members riding the attraction held banners that fluttered wildly as their chairs swung around.
Once the the Swings had been givena swinging send-off, the cast members attending the ceremony were invited up to be the attraction’s official inaugural riders. It was kinda fun to see folks in costumes riding on the swings!
Cast members were also given the chance to have a little breakfast and take photos with the characters at the end of the ceremony. About an hour later, when DCA opened. the guests got their chance to officially ride the swings for the first time. (And before anybody writes, yes, these photos were taken much later, when the sun finally came out!)
 
It was a really fun ceremony, and I’m glad I had the privilege to attend it with the Disney California Adventure cast members. It was nice to see them get a little something extra as a reward for all their hard work!
Now, let’s see, what’s next on our agenda for the World of Color press event? Oh, yes – “What’s Next”! That’s the name of the event Disney holds to introduce the media to what’ll be coming soon to the Disneyland Resort. Let’s leave Paradise Pier and head over for the event, shall we? Wave to all the nice people waiting to enter the park at rope drop…
 
… and I’ll meet you at the presentation! See you next time!
- Paul Schnebelen
Hello everybody,
Last time here at Shandy’s Corner, we went to the blue carpet for the World of Color premiere and got to meet some of the celebrities. Well, the celebrities and the VIPs have been escorted to their chairs (they had chairs for the premiere) and the rest of us have been directed to our viewing areas. World of Color’s premiere is almost ready to begin!
On the way to our viewing section, don’t forget to grab a souvenir program and your complimentary World of Color popcorn.
 Photo by Gary Marlis
 Photo by Gary Marlis
Yep, even the popcorn’s in color at this event!
Here we are at our location – looks like it’s not quite dark enough yet…
It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Now let’s speed up the clock a little to get closer to showtime.
Ah, there we are – that looks dark enough to start the show!
You may have noticed a lighted balloon just to the left of Mickey’s Fun Wheel. It’s one of several that are in the lagoon so that all the folks here for the premiere can see the pre-show on the Paradise Park stage. The sun logo within the California Screamin’ loop has also been changed a little tonight to serve as a screen.
 Photo by Gary Marlis 
If it’s dark enough to make out the screen and balloons, it must be almost showtime! Sure enough, the announcer comes on the sound system to welcome to the event and introduce our host for the evening’s festivities – Mickey Mouse!
Ah, but this isn’t your typical theme park Mickey – for the first time in a public event here at the Disneyland Resort, Mickey is able to move his lips and blink! (Okay, I know for you folks who have visited the Magic Kingdom in the last couple of years and seen “Dream Along With Mickey”, this may not seem like a big deal. But this is the first time we West Coasters have seen this “more animated” Mickey in person!)
Mickey’s spends a few minutes hobnobbing with the VIPs before he makes it to the stage. When Mickey gets there, he notices a glowing wand that was left behind.
Now, you folks that have seen the World of Color commercials online or on TV know what’s going to happen next – fountains of water erupt on stage!
Funny, stages don’t usually spring leaks like this! 
Mickey’s then joined on stage, by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts chairman Tom Staggs…
…who wishes us all welcome and gives a brief speech on the opening of this show. A short time later, Tom is replced on stage by Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger, who also makes a few remarks.
 Photo by Gary Marlis Noticing Mickey’s wand, Bob tries to use the wand to start the show, but it just won’t work for him. After a couple of attempts, Bob turns the wand back over to Mickey, who starts a brief video presentation featuring clips of Walt and a remix of the Wonderful World of Color TV show theme and a barrage of fireworks.
 Photo by Gary Marlis As I mentioned in my first post on the World of Color event, photos just don’t do this show justice. But just to whet your appetite if you haven’t had a chance to see the show yet, here are a few photos of the show, both from premiere night (courtesy of my friend and colleague Gary Marlis) and from this weekend. Enjoy!
 Photo by Gary Marlis 
 
 
Well, that’ll do it for tonight’s performance of World of Color, folks! Please take a moment to admire the beautiful multicolored fountains on your way out of Paradise Park…
 Photo by Gary Marlis
 Photo by Gary Marlis … and we’ll be back again soon to see events from the second day of the World of Color premiere.
- Paul Schnebelen
Hello again everybody,
Last time here in Shandy’s Corner, I took you from the entrance of Disney California Adventure to Paradise Bay as I entered the park for the World of Color premiere event. This time, come with me as we experience what it’s like to be on the celebrity red carpet!
Oops, sorry – make that the blue carpet. Disney likes to mix things up a little like this sometimes; seeing as the show’s all about water, blue kinda fits, dont’cha think?
For the one or two super Disney fans like me who were wondering, someone asked if the blue carpet was a leftover from the premiere of Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage (the carpet for the celebs was blue at that event, too). The answer we got was “I don’t get involved with carpet issues”, which I thought was a brilliant response.
Anyway, let me set the stage for you. The celebrity carpet’s a long… well… carpet between two metal fences. On one side, you have the nice people from the media like yours truly who are here to promote the event by taking pictures and getting quotes from the celebrities attending the premiere. On the other side, you have a throng of excited fans – usually there due to special promotions, because they’re employees, or just because they’re in the right place at the right time. They’re just looking forward to seeing some stars!
  
Now, being on the carpet probably sounds exciting - and it can be. The trick is that being on the carpet can best be described as periods of sheer boredom followed by moments of sheer frenzy. That’s because, unlike what you see on TV, you don’t have celebrities passing in front of you one after the other in rapid succession; the fact is, depending on how long it takes for the celebrities to make their way down the carpet, it may be quite a while between moments when you have someone close enough to you to ask a question or to snap a photo of.
To Disney’s credit, though, they’ve done enough of these things to know how to keep them interesting and the fans’ energy level up over what may be a couple of hours. Throughout the blue carpet event, Disney had lighted puppets of famous Disney and Pixar characters that were created for the World of Color pre-show walk up and down the carpet to keep everyone entertained while they waited for the celebrities.
For example, here’s our first Disney “star” of the night, the Genie from Aladdin…
As you can see, these aren’t little puppets by any means! Notice that the Genie’s lamp is one of the puppeteer’s shoes – I thought that was a really nice touch.
Next up was Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc. …
… followed by Sebastian from The Little Mermaid…
and Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast.
All right, all right, I hear you – the characters are cool, but what about the human celebrities? Well the first person on the blue carpet was Richard Sherman – most appropriate, in my opinion, seeing as his and his brother Robert’s theme song for the Wonderful World of Color served as an inspiration for this show.
I said, how appropriate that you’re first – your song helped inspire the show! (Just kidding, Richard.)
Next up, we have Cameron Mathison from All My Children.
How can you tell the cool celebrities from the really cool celebrities on the carpet? The cool ones stop to take pictures with the fans, but the really cool ones take the pictures for them, as Teri Hatcher demonstrates.
Love the dress, Teri!
Here’s Vanessa Hudgens from the High School Musical films.
Next up is Modern Family’s Rico Rodriguez, with his sister - always nice to see two family members getting along!
Here’s Rico with Vincent Martella, who is the voice of Phineas on Phineas and Ferb. Where can I get a Perry the Platypus T-shirt?
Next, we have Rico’s co-star from M0dern Family, Nolan Gould.
Here’s another one for the super Disney fans – Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Tom Staggs.
Think the guys on the media side of the carpet can’t get starstruck? Think again – I almost forgot to get photos of Jamie Lee Curtis.
It’s just not a Disney event without John Stamos!
This next one’s kinda blurry – it’s a hazard of being on the carpet, sorry! – but here’s Geena Davis.
Next on the carpet was the “big cheese” himself, Disney CEO Bob Iger.
Following Bob was my favorite mermaid, Jodi Benson, with her family.
It’s starting to get dark now – almost time for the show! Fortunately for the fans, Wayne Brady wants to spend some time with them.
Well, folks, the last of the celebrities have made their way across the blue carpet, and we’ve got our photos (at least I hope I’ve got some decent photos!). We’d better get over to Paradise Bay to the viewing area for tonight’s premiere. I’ll see you there next time!
- Paul Schnebelen
Hello everyone,
It’s been a while, but I’ve finally returned to Shandy’s Corner! Sorry I’ve been away for so long, folks — it’s good to be back.
For my next few posts, I’ll be sharing some of my experiences from when I was at Disney California Adventure the week before last covering the premiere of World of Color. Now, I’m going to have to admit right up front that this will probably be the first series of blog posts ever where the person posting about the event can’t show you any photos of the actual event! I was at the premiere, and the show was absolutely wonderful, but the evil Camera Gremlins started messing around with my camera just before the premiere performance began, and they kept me from taking any photos of the show! Before we’re done with coverage of the World of Color premiere, I hope to have some photos of a more recent performance or photos of the premiere taken by a colleague of mine who’s agreed to share some photos with all of you here at Magical Mountain, so please be patient. But trust me, folks – the best photos and videos in the world won’t do World of Color justice — the show is just so amazing that it has to be seen in person to be believed. You’ve got to come out and see it. {You’ll be coming out to see it soon, right Nathan? }
So, what do I have to show you today? Well, as with all good stories, we’ll start at the beginnning. Let me take you around Disney California Adventure (that still sounds weird to me) and show you some of the changes and preparations made in anticipation of the show’s opening.
The first thing I noticed as I arrived at DCA for the premiere was that the place was decked out… well, colorfully! There were lots of banners in the Esplanade announcing the new show…
and the “CALIFORNIA” letters and entrance gates at the front of the park had been decorated in a kaleidoscope of colors for the premiere. (For you folks that haven’t been out west, decorating the letters is something the Disneyland Resort does for special events; for the holidays, the letters are colored like candy canes, and at Halloween the “A”s are transformed into giant pieces of candy corn. But I digress…)
Sunshine Plaza, DCA’s central plaza, and the Hollywood Pictures Backlot, one of the lands, had also been transformed for the summer – but not for World of Color. You see, while Paradise Bay prepares for and has Guests come in to see World of Color, Sunshine Plaza and Hollywood Pictures Backlot will host Glowfest, a special entertainment area full of high-energy music, food, and other stuff to keep folks bust while they wait for the show.
  
Well, it’s definitely colorful, but let’s not get sidetracked – let’s head over to the site of the show, Paradise Bay.
Paradise Bay has also been decorated in honor of the new show, with things like banners announcing the show…
   
… special floral arrangements…
 
.
..and, since this is Disney, merchandise carts with World of Color merchandise.
 
For premiere night, Paradise Park, the show’s viewing area, was set up with special VIP seating, risers for press photographers, and lighting and sound equipment for a stage show that would be part of the premiere.
 
To the east of Paradise Bay, extending from Paradise Park to the Wine Country Trattoria, was the “blue carpet”; celebrities invited to the event would be walking the carpet to meet the media and fans on their way to the premiere.
 
Most of the blue carpet was blocked off in preparation for the evening’s activities, but they did leave one stretch open near Paradise Park, and you wouldn’t believe all of the silly people who insisted on having their picture taken on the carpet, as if they were celebrities or something.
Hey, buddy, haven’t you got a premiere to cover?
Anyway, next time I’ll be taking you to the blue carpet and showing you at least the beginning of the premiere of World of Color. In future posts, I’ll show you some of the other interesting things going on during the media event, so please join me again here soon!
-Paul Schnebelen
|
|
