05-05-05

[Kevy Baby]

One juicy tidbit I found out about the 5th: due to a shuffle in the way the schedule food service workers, where people with lesser seniority started getting better schedules and long-time servers were suddenly working many less hours and bussing tables, there was a food-service worker "sick-out" on the 5th. Many food-service workers called in sick on what was supposed to be one of DL's greatest days.

Which explains why Zocolo wasn't open and many lines for food were insanely slow. One CM told me that they had to bring front-gate people in to help with the food.
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I too think the boos for Eisner were appropriate. The man has single-handedly done more damage to the beloved Disney company and DL in particular. He deserves to get the reception he did. I was fortunate enough to get up pretty close (or at least as close as a pedestrian could get). When the booing started, I could see the knowing smirk on the faces of many CMs - suits and working class stiffs alike. Of course there were a couple of management wanna-bes with mortified looks on their faces that stepped up and clapped. All in lock-step with the boss.
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I've noticed that there hasn't been a lot (LoT) of traffic here on LoT. That's because a good half of the board was at the park from insanely early hours (including Disneyphile and Frodo Potter who were there at 5:05 a.m.) and stayed until the bitter end.
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Art Linkletter and Julie Andrews were both amazing! Julie Andrews is still the most gracious and graceful human being. Art Linkletter came in on the same car that drove Walt in on opening day! The man is 92 years old and later this year will be celebrating his 70th wedding anniversary! But the man still gets around with an amazing energy!
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I have only one thing to say about the new fireworks show:

OH
MY
GOD!!!

Immediately after the show, Susan says to me, "I just want to let you know that we are coming here every single night this summer to watch fireworks."

You have GOT to see this show!!!!

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

Which explains why Zocolo wasn't open and many lines for food were insanely slow. One CM told me that they had to bring front-gate people in to help with the food.

Hmm, that's interesting. From MP's report, "Rancho del Zocolo was closed all day for media reasons (though we're not sure what they were)." Perhaps "media reasons" was a cover story.

[innerSpaceman]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

Hmm, that's interesting. From MP's report, "Rancho del Zocolo was closed all day for media reasons (though we're not sure what they were)." Perhaps "media reasons" was a cover story.

Phft, "media reason" my eye. But Zocolo being closed on Cinqo de Mayo was just the tip of the food services nightmare at the Park yesterday.

The irony was that is was one of the rare days that NO ONE was going to leave the Park for anything unless absolutely necessary, and so -for once- all food was going to have to be found inside Disneyland. It was a mess. Hours-long lines for everything and food service brought to a crawl.

The foodservice workers could hardly have picked a better day for their work stoppage demonstration, and I hope management got the message loud and clear that these people can bring Park operations to its knees. Certainly there was not a living soul inside Disneyland yesterday who did not take unkind note of the abysmal food situation.

* * * * *

That being said, however, and also despite the crushing crowds -- it was one of the most fun Disneyland days ever! Party atmosphere, nearly-100% AP crowd of enthusiasts. The vibe was energetic, friendly, fun-filled and amazing.

Closing the hub and having press camped all around the plaza was a crowd control nightmare, especially for the fireworks show that MUST include a view of the Castle if you are to remotely get the point. Hopefully, the unique May 5th operating difficulties will not rear their ugly head throughout the summer or, gasp, on Disneyland birthday!


The exhibit at the Opera House is pretty cool, with the standout item being the scale model of opening day Disneyland. The Steve Martin movie in the Mr. Lincoln auditorium is quite good, and many of us teared up at the finale. I wish some TDA execs had been there to take note of the huge applause that greeted mentions of Inner Space, Country Bears and the Submarines during the film.

Sleeping Beauty Castle is beautiful, and not nearly as tacky bling bling as the concept art made me fear. The crowns - ahem, tiaras - are quite lovely and interesting. Heheh, we were wondering if they represented the five original lands or the five decades of the Park, but we were all wrong. From the official press release:

Tiara One: The creation of Disneyland is represented by a pair of famous “Ears’ peeking up over the horizon to see the wonders to come.
Tiara Two: “A World on the Move,” otherwise known as the “New Tomorrowland” of 1967, is represented by rocket ships and accented by opalescent planets.
Tiara Three: The beautiful Blue Fairy represents the debut of the beloved Main Street Electrical Parade.
Tiara Four: The Indiana Jones Adventure is represented by the evil Eye of Mara, guarded by mesmerizing snakes.
Tiara Five: The 50th Anniversary of Disneyland is represented by fireworks and Tinker Bell.

And while each of the individual Park decorations may not be glorious (the planters on the street lamps, a few of the more boring 50 fifties), the cumulative effect of the themed 50's, the gold touches, and the plentiful photo murals is that the Park is better decked-out for this anniversary than it has been for any one previous. Rightly so, and rightly done.

The gold ride vehicles are also a nice touch. Heheh, it was such a day of crowds and friends that I only went on two rides! They were, by coincidence, both boat rides, both opening day attractions, were the Jungle Cruise and Storybookland ... and we got the Golden Boat each time!!! That was a very special anniversary touch to the birthday year kick-off!


Park entertainment has taken a leap forward. The new parade is very nice, with floats that are generally gorgeous and interesting. I was disappointed that the parade was less about Disneyland than, once again, about the Disney animated movies - - but it's a very pretty parade (and quite the antidote to the last umpteen years of the ghastly Parade of the Stars).


And while the parade was not as Disneyland-centric as I would have hoped, the Fireworks are all about Disneyland, Disneyland and more Disneyland. This is an E-Ticket effort on a level with The Main Street Electrical Parade or Fantasmic. It is amazing, fantastic, inventive, beautiful, heartwarming, and did I say amazing? OMG OMG OMG. Well, I know where I'll be spending most of my nights this summer.


The Jungle Cruise, The Enchanted Tiki Room, and The Haunted Mansion have all received significant upgrades for the anniversary, and many other attractions have been spruced up. As we know, most of the Park has been freshly painted -- and Tomorrowland has been treated to an entirely new color scheme as the fans demanded. The Park looks great, and that's as it should be. No plans for a 50 hour party have been announced, but - all-in-all - I think Disneyland is all set for a very happy birthday and I'm really looking forward to July 17th!